Peace passes through the recognition
and respect for the truth inscribed by God in the heart of every person
and thus is a "precondition" for peace is the " dismantling of the
dictatorship of relativism and of the supposition of a completely
autonomous morality " and, finally, demands to "propose and promote a
pedagogy of peace", which aims to "build a coexistence based on truth,
freedom, love and justice," because "peace presupposes a humanism open
to transcendence".
This, in a nutshell, is the message of Benedict XVI for the World Day
of Peace 2013, released today with a title taken from the Gospel,
"Blessed are the peacemakers." Given that "concerns the human person as a
whole, and it involves complete commitment. It is peace with God
through a life lived according to his will. It is interior peace with
oneself, and exterior peace with our neighbours and all creation".
Our times, says the Pope, are marked "by globalization with its
positive and negative aspects, as well as the continuation of violent
conflicts and threats of war." "Alarming hotbeds of tension and conflict
caused by growing instances of inequality between rich and poor, by the
prevalence of a selfish and individualistic mindset which also finds
expression in an unregulated financial capitalism. In addition to the
varied forms of terrorism and international crime, peace is also
endangered by those forms of fundamentalism and fanaticism which distort
the true nature of religion, which is called to foster fellowship and
reconciliation among people".
"All the same, the many different efforts at peacemaking which abound
in our world testify to mankind's innate vocation to peace".
This "vocation" is based on the truths of natural law. The first
point is therefore the "recognition that, in God, one human family. This
family is structured, as the Encyclical Pacem in Terris taught, by
interpersonal relations and institutions supported and animated by a
communitarian "we", which entails an internal and external moral
order in which, in accordance with truth and justice, reciprocal rights
and mutual duties are sincerely recognized".
It is the search for the "common good". The "path" toward its
attainment passes "above all" through respect for human life, "all its
many aspects, beginning with its conception, through its development and
up to its natural end." Next to no to abortion and euthanasia, "false
or arbitrary claims ", "based on a reductionist and relativist view of
the human being", is the defence and promotion of the family "against
attempts to make it "juridically equivalent to radically different types
of union".
"One of the fundamental human rights, also with reference to
international peace, is the right of individuals and communities to
religious freedom. At this stage in history, it is becoming increasingly
important to promote this right not only from the negative point of
view, as freedom from - for example, obligations or limitations
involving the freedom to choose one's religion - but also from the
positive point of view, in its various expressions, as freedom for - for
example, bearing witness to one's religion, making its teachings known,
engaging in activities in the educational, benevolent and charitable
fields which permit the practice of religious precepts, and existing and acting as social bodies structured in accordance with the proper doctrinal principles and institutional
ends of each. Sadly, even in countries of long-standing Christian
tradition, instances of religious intolerance are becoming more
numerous, especially in relation to Christianity and those who simply
wear identifying signs of their religion".
But the promotion of peace also involves the social rights and
duties. "One of the social rights and duties most under threat today is
the right to work. The reason for this is that labour and the rightful
recognition of workers' juridical status are increasingly undervalued,
since economic development is thought to depend principally on
completely free markets. Labour is thus regarded as a variable dependent
on economic and financial mechanisms".
"The dignity of man" and also "economic, social and political
reasoning", instead require that that we continue "to prioritize the
goal of access to steady employment for everyone".
This demands a fresh
outlook on work, based on ethical principles and spiritual values that
reinforce the notion of work as a fundamental good for the individual,
for the family and for society". Therefore we need "courageous and new
labor policies for all" and "a new model of development", to replace the
one that prevailed in recent decades and " called for seeking maximum
profit and consumption, on the basis of an individualistic and selfish mindset, aimed at considering individuals solely in terms of their ability to meet the demands of competitiveness. Yet, from another standpoint, true and
lasting success is attained through the gift of ourselves, our
intellectual abilities and our entrepreneurial skills, since a
"liveable" or truly human economic development requires the principle of
gratuitousness as an expression of fraternity and the logic of gift".
We must, in conclusion, "renounce that false peace promised by the
idols of this world along with the dangers which accompany it, that
false peace which dulls consciences, which leads to self-absorption, to a
withered existence lived in indifference. The pedagogy of peace, on the
other hand, implies activity, compassion, solidarity, courage and
perseverance".
"Jesus embodied all these attitudes in his own life, even to the
complete gift of himself, even to "losing his life" (cf. Mt 10:39; Lk
17:33; Jn 12:25). He promises his disciples that sooner or later they
will make the extraordinary discovery to which I originally alluded,
namely that God is in the world, the God of Jesus, fully on the side of
man".