VATICAN CITY — Capping a grueling Holy Week schedule, a weary-sounding Pope John Paul II offered Easter wishes for peace in 61 languages and called on the world Sunday to end racism and xenophobia.

So many Holy Year pilgrims, tourists and Romans turned out for the pope's late-mornin Mass in St. Peter's Square that by the time he delivered his Easter message at noon, the crowd, numbering close to 150,000, was spilling over into the boulevard leading to the Vatican.

The faithful passed through metal detectors recently installed in the colonnade around the square as part of security concerns over the heavy Holy Year schedule of public appearances by the pope.

Sounding tired toward the end of the two-hour appearance, John Paul expressed hope that the sense of life associated with Easter may "overturn the hardness of our hearts" and "impel individuals and states to full respect" for human rights.

Praying for the success of peace efforts around the world, including in Africa and Latin America, the pope cited "persistent tensions in the Middle East, vast areas of Asia, and some parts of Europe."

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"Help the nations to overcome old and new rivalries by rejecting attitudes of racism and xenophobia," the pope prayed.

Unlike past years, the pope did not single out any one country. John Paul asked God to "grant the human family of the third millennium a just and lasting peace."

Resplendent in gold-colored robes, the pontiff kept up his tradition of reading holiday greetings in dozens of languages — this year 61, including Latin. The tongues ranged from Maori and Maltese, spoken in places he has visited, to ones such as Vietnamese and Russia, used in places he hasn't been able to go to so far.

Yellow daisies, orange azaleas and tulips in many hues — 50,000 flowers in all from the Netherlands — dressed up the cobblestone square on what started out to be a gray day. Many faithful, from choirboys to cardinals, popped on sunglasses when the sun burst through the clouds.

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