VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II said the worsening chain of violence in the Middle East calls for a "revolution" in political thinking and for regional leaders committed to the respect of human dignity.

In his annual World Peace Day message, released at the Vatican Dec. 17, he also suggested the time has come to consider a new international organization capable of ensuring peace in strife-torn places like the Holy Land.

The pope said he was not suggesting a "global super-state" to regulate international affairs, but a mechanism to help make international political decisions more participatory.

The fratricidal conflict in the Holy Land -- where international interests have compounded the problems instead of resolving them -- cries out for such a new approach, he said.

The text of the pope's message was released two weeks ahead of the church's celebration of World Peace Day, Jan. 1. The message commemorated the 40th anniversary of Blessed Pope John XXIII's landmark encyclical, "Pacem in Terris" ("Peace on Earth") and reflected on its themes.

Pope John Paul said "Pacem in Terris" had been prophetic in many ways, especially in its recognition that an emerging human rights movement marked a new phase in human history.

From the fall of dictatorships to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, global events have proved Pope John right, he said. Much of the world has become more free, channels of dialogue have been opened, and the threat of nuclear war has been contained, he said.

At the same time, the global imbalance between rich and poor is taking new forms, he warned.

"We are witnessing the emergence of an alarming gap between a series of new 'rights' being promoted in advanced societies -- the result of new prosperity and new technologies -- and other more basic human rights still not being met," he said.

The pope said he was thinking in particular of the fundamental rights to food, drinking water, housing and self-determination, rights still unmet for many people.

Thus a "serious disorder" remains in world affairs, generating tensions and conflict around the globe, he said. The United Nations has played an important role, he said, but peace and respect for human rights remain elusive in many places.

"Is this not the time for all to work together for a new constitutional organization of the human family, truly capable of ensuring peace and harmony between peoples as well as their integral development?" he said.

"But let there be no misunderstanding. This does not mean writing the constitution of a global super-state," he said.

"Rather, it means continuing and deepening processes already in place to meet the almost universal demand for participatory ways of exercising political authority, even international political authority, and for transparency and accountability at every level of public life," he said.

The pope said that perhaps nowhere is there a more obvious need for such political intervention than in the Middle East and the Holy Land, where "day after day, year after year, the cumulative effect of bitter mutual rejection and an unending chain of violence and retaliation have shattered every effort so far to engage in serious dialogue."

"The volatility of the situation is compounded by the clash of interests among the members of the international community," he said. The impasse will be broken only when leaders undergo a "veritable revolution" in the way they use their power and secure their people's welfare, he said.

The Middle East needs men and women who will implement policies based on respect for human dignity and human rights, the pope said.

"Such policies are incomparably more advantageous to everyone than the continuation of conflict," he said.

The papal letter did not touch upon other concrete examples of international conflict, nor did it examine the recent increase in global terrorism and U.S.-led efforts to contain it through military means.

But at a Vatican press conference to present the peace day message, Archbishop Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said that in world since Sept. 11, 2001, peace is threatened by the "cancer" of international terrorism.

The archbishop added that terrorism can never be fought at the expense of human rights and humanitarian rights. He specifically rejected the concept of a preventative war, saying it was just another term for a war of aggression.

Responding to questions about U.S. threats to wage war on Iraq, Archbishop Martino said it was important to disarm countries that hold weapons of mass destruction, but that the United Nations is the proper vehicle for that. The archbishop, who represented the Vatican at the United Nations until his recent appointment to the justice and peace council, said that while the current U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq are laborious, he hoped they would be successfully completed.

In his 15-page message, issued in seven languages, the pope focused on the four basic principles identified by "Pacem in Terris" as essential for world peace: truth, justice, love and freedom.

The pope said the bond between peace and truth means that no human activity takes place outside the sphere of moral judgment, and international politics cannot be considered a "free zone" in which moral law holds no sway.

Respect for truth also means that state and government leaders must honor their commitments, including those made in international forums, he said.

"Promises made to the poor should be considered particularly binding," he said. In this sense, the failure to maintain aid commitments to developing countries is a "serious moral question and further highlights the injustice of the imbalances existing in the world," he said.

"The suffering caused by poverty is compounded by the loss of trust. The end result is hopelessness," he said.