Preaching to a half-million people in front of Beirut's war-shattered skyline, Pope John Paul II called Sunday on Christians and Muslims to make peace in "martyr Lebanon."

The last public event of the pontiff's two-day trip here drew Christians from across this country of 3.2 million, as well as Syria and Jordan, to the largest gathering ever in Lebanon.The Mass site, a seaside landfill of leveled garbage and rubble from the 1975-90 civil war, overflowed its capacity of 300,000 into surrounding squares and streets. The military put attendance at 500,000, more than half the country's Roman Catholic population.

Many in the crowd shouted "Baba, Baba," Arabic for pope. The pontiff spoke in Arabic when he opened the Mass on Beirut's Mediterranean seafront.

"Salaam aleikum," John Paul said - "Peace be with you."

"People often spoke of the martyr Lebanon" during the war, he said in his homily. "I am certain that the sufferings of the past years will not be in vain. They will strengthen your freedom and unity."

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John Paul also was speaking to the tiny and declining number of Christians in the Middle East. Lebanon is the only Mideast country where the Christians have significant power, making the trip highly symbolic for a pope seeking to bolster his flock in an overwhelmingly Muslim region.

He released a major document designed to unify and guide Lebanon's Catholic churches. It was a response to Lebanese bishops meeting at the Vatican two years ago, who had demanded the departure of Syria's 40,000 troops and Israeli forces occupying 10 percent of southern Lebanon.

John Paul stopped short of making such an explicit call but endorsed it and embraced other con-cerns of Lebanon's Christians.

In a statement before heading back to Rome, the pope called for safeguarding Lebanon's "territorial integrity" - a hint for Israelis and Syrians to withdraw.

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