VATICAN CITY Pope John Paul II expressed his hope for peace in the Middle East and the Balkans, as Easter celebrations wound up for Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox faiths around the world this weekend, AFP reported.

"This world of ours can change," the frail 80-year-old pontiff said in his urbi et orbi' message before 100,000 faithful in Saint Peter's Square on Sunday.

"Peace is possible even where for too long there has been fighting and death, as in the holy land and Bait-ul-Moqaddas (Jerusalem)."

In Israel, the Latin patriarch of Bait-ul-Moqaddas (Jerusalem) made an attack on Israel in his Easter Sunday sermon, saluting "the soul of a people" who remain resilient while faced with military might.

Patriarch Michel Sabbah is the first Palestinian patriarch of Bait-ul-Moqaddas (Jerusalem) and an outspoken advocate of Palestinian and Christian rights.

He delivered his homily during mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site in Bait-ul-Moqaddas (Jerusalem's) old city where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected on Easter.

This year, the Easter celebration for some two billion Christian believers coincided not only with the Orthodox Easter, but also with the Jewish Feast of Passover.

The Palestinian uprising has prompted the United States and Britain to issue travel warnings for parts of Israel and the Palestinian territories, although groups of pilgrims from Armenia, Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Philippines and Russia still made the trip to the holy land.

Israel and the Palestinians have been locked in a deadly conflict for almost seven months that has killed more than 475 people--mostly Arabs--while Israel has also imposed choking economic sanctions on the Palestinians.

"All these are means which can destroy houses, kill human persons, but cannot kill the soul of a people, neither wipe off the image of God in any person nor can it kill our hope," said Sabbah in his homily.

For Jews, the Feast of Passover officially ended Saturday evening after seven days of commemorating the Hebrew exodus from Egypt.

In the Vatican, the pontiff, 81 next month, said peace was "possible in the Balkans, no longer condemned to a worrying uncertainty that risks causing the failure of all proposals for agreement."

The main ceremony marking Christ's resurrection was held during a mass in which the pontiff delivered his traditional for Rome and for the world blessing.

He wished a happy Easter to the faithful in 61 languages, including Maori, Samoan, Urdu and Mongolian.

Addressing himself specifically to Africa, "A continent tormented by conflicts constantly threatening," he appealed: "Raise your head confidently, trusting in the power of the risen Christ."

The Pope also voiced hope that Asia "can win the challenge of tolerance and solidarity" and that in Latin America, faith will help people "find the capacity and courage needed for a development respectful of every human being."

In Belgrade, several thousand people turned out for the Easter liturgy in the main Orthodox church in the capital, AFP said.

In his Easter message, Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Pavle expressed "hope that a new society and the new state will be built, with our striving for virtue."

Tens of thousands of Macedonian Slavs turned out for midnight mass at the Orthodox Church of St. Kliment-Ohridski in Central Skopje late Saturday, despite warnings from security officials that ethnic Albanian guerillas might target the gathering.

Worshippers carrying candles and painted eggs braved a sudden temperature plunge to attend masses to hear a message for peace in the ethnically-mixed country, shaken last month by rebels demanding more rights for the Albanian minority.

In a special Easter message, President Vladimir Putin told Russian believers Saturday: "The Orthodox Church has played a special role in the history of Russia, in the establishment and consolidation of the state."

In Austria, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, Vienna's archbishop and seen as a contender for the papacy, used his sermon to attack mercy killings, just legalized by the Dutch, and to condemn abortion.

In the Philippines, Asia's only predominantly Christian nation, thousands of people converged on the northern village of San Fernando on Good Friday to witness 12 people being crucified in an annual reenactment of Jesus Christ's suffering and death.

In Hong Kong, the environmental group Green Peace warned parents on Good Friday to make sure their children were not eating Easter chocolates made with genetically modified ingredients.

Green Peace activists dressed up as Easter bunnies placed two giant Easter cards outside a Japanese department store with the message: "We don't want monster foods".