“Religious freedom, the
path to peace” is the title of Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the 44th
World Peace Day that is celebrated on 1 January.
Released today, the message begins with some
thoughts for Iraqi Christians and the massacre carried out in Baghdad’s
Syro- Catholic cathedral, stressing that “in some areas of the world it
is impossible to profess one’s religion freely except at the risk of
life and personal liberty.”
The message, which also refers to the Holy Land,
goes on to say that“Christians are the religious group which suffers
most from persecution on account of its faith”.
It laments the fact that
religious freedom continues to be threatened by an intolerant
secularism that is opposed to every expression of religion, by
fundamentalism, secularism’s mirror image, by the politicisation of
religion and the imposition of state religions, and by the “illusion
that moral relativism provides the key for peaceful coexistence [when in
fact it] is actually the origin of divisions and the denial of the
dignity of human beings.”
In fact, for Benedict XVI religious freedom, like
other human rights, neither depends on the recognition of the state nor
is it a concession by the state because it pre-exists the state, and is
based on the natural dignity of the person.
It is a “path to peace” since the recognition of
the inalienable human right to seek or deny God and adapt one’s
behaviour to the truth gives a community the ethical basis on which it
can search a positive and full development that is respectful of
mankind. Religion’s “public dimension” stems from that, so does the
positive contribution it can make to social, economic and political
life.
“Religious freedom is,” the Pope writes, “also an
achievement of a sound political and juridical culture. It is an
essential good: each person must be able freely to exercise the right to
profess and manifest, individually or in community, his or her own
religion or faith, in public and in private, in teaching, in practice,
in publications, in worship and in ritual observances. There should be
no obstacles should he or she eventually wish to belong to another
religion or profess none at all.”
“The world needs God,” the Pope says. “It needs
universal, shared ethical and spiritual values, and religion can offer a
precious contribution to their pursuit, for the building of a just and
peaceful social order at the national and international levels.”
Here is the full message:
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, THE PATH TO PEACE
1. at the beginning of the new year I offer good
wishes to each and all for serenity and prosperity, but especially for
peace. Sadly, the year now ending has again been marked by persecution,
discrimination, terrible acts of violence and religious intolerance.
My thoughts turn in a special way to the beloved
country of Iraq, which continues to be a theatre of violence and strife
as it makes its way towards a future of stability and reconciliation.
I
think of the recent sufferings of the Christian community, and in
particular the reprehensible attack on the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baghdad, where on 31 October two priests
and over fifty faithful were killed as they gathered for the celebration
of Holy Mass.
In the days that followed, other attacks ensued, even on
private homes, spreading fear within the Christian community and a
desire on the part of many to emigrate in search of a better life.
I
assure them of my own closeness and that of the entire Church, a
closeness which found concrete expression in the recent Special Assembly
for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops. The Synod encouraged the
Catholic communities in Iraq and throughout the Middle East to live in
communion and to continue to offer a courageous witness of faith in
those lands.
I offer heartfelt thanks to those Governments which
are working to alleviate the sufferings of these, our brothers and
sisters in the human family, and I ask all Catholics for their prayers
and support for their brethren in the faith who are victims of violence
and intolerance. In this context, I have felt it particularly
appropriate to share some reflections on religious freedom as the path
to peace.
It is painful to think that in some areas of the world it is
impossible to profess one’s religion freely except at the risk of life
and personal liberty. In other areas we see more subtle and
sophisticated forms of prejudice and hostility towards believers and
religious symbols. At present, Christians are the religious group which
suffers most from persecution on account of its faith.
Many Christians
experience daily affronts and often live in fear because of their
pursuit of truth, their faith in Jesus Christ and their heartfelt plea
for respect for religious freedom. This situation is unacceptable, since
it represents an insult to God and to human dignity; furthermore, it is
a threat to security and peace, and an obstacle to the achievement of
authentic and integral human development.1
Religious freedom expresses what is unique about the
human person, for it allows us to direct our personal and social life to
God, in whose light the identity, meaning and purpose of the person are
fully understood. To deny or arbitrarily restrict this freedom is to
foster a reductive vision of the human person; to eclipse the public
role of religion is to create a society which is unjust, inasmuch as it
fails to take account of the true nature of the human person; it is to
stifle the growth of the authentic and lasting peace of the whole human
family.
For this reason, I implore all men and women of good
will to renew their commitment to building a world where all are free to
profess their religion or faith, and to express their love of God with
all their heart, with all their soul and with all their mind (cf. Mt
22:37). This is the sentiment which inspires and directs this Message
for the XLIV World Day of Peace, devoted to the theme: Religious
Freedom, the Path to Peace.
A sacred right to life and to a spiritual life
2. The right to religious freedom is rooted in the
very dignity of the human person,2 whose transcendent nature must not be
ignored or overlooked. God created man and woman in his own image and
likeness (cf. Gen 1:27). For this reason each person is endowed with the
sacred right to a full life, also from a spiritual standpoint. Without
the acknowledgement of his spiritual being, without openness to the
transcendent, the human person withdraws within himself, fails to find
answers to the heart’s deepest questions about life’s meaning, fails to
appropriate lasting ethical values and principles, and fails even to
experience authentic freedom and to build a just society.
3. Sacred Scripture, in harmony with our own experience,
reveals the profound value of human dignity: "When I look at your
heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have
established, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of
man, that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than God,
and crowned him with glory and honour. You have given him dominion over
the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet" (Ps
8:3-6).
Contemplating the sublime reality of human nature, we
can experience the same amazement felt by the Psalmist. Our nature
appears as openness to the Mystery, a capacity to ask deep questions
about ourselves and the origin of the universe, and a profound echo of
the supreme Love of God, the beginning and end of all things, of every
person and people.
4 The transcendent dignity of the person is an
essential value of Judeo-Christian wisdom, yet thanks to the use of
reason, it can be recognized by all. This dignity, understood as a
capacity to transcend one’s own materiality and to seek truth, must be
acknowledged as a universal good, indispensable for the building of a
society directed to human fulfilment. Respect for essential elements of
human dignity, such as the right to life and the right to religious
freedom, is a condition for the moral legitimacy of every social and
legal norm.
Religious freedom and mutual respect
3. Religious freedom is at the origin of moral
freedom. Openness to truth and perfect goodness, openness to God, is
rooted in human nature; it confers full dignity on each individual and
is the guarantee of full mutual respect between persons. Religious
freedom should be understood, then, not merely as immunity from
coercion, but even more fundamentally as an ability to order one’s own
choices in accordance with truth.
Freedom and respect are inseparable; indeed, "in
exercising their rights, individuals and social groups are bound by the
moral law to have regard for the rights of others, their own duties to
others and the common good of all".5
A freedom which is hostile or indifferent to God
becomes self-negating and does not guarantee full respect for others. A
will which believes itself radically incapable of seeking truth and
goodness has no objective reasons or motives for acting save those
imposed by its fleeting and contingent interests; it does not have an
"identity" to safeguard and build up through truly free and conscious
decisions.
As a result, it cannot demand respect from other "wills",
which are themselves detached from their own deepest being and thus
capable of imposing other "reasons" or, for that matter, no "reason" at
all. The illusion that moral relativism provides
the key for peaceful coexistence is actually the origin of divisions
and the denial of the dignity of human beings. Hence we can see the
need for recognition of a twofold dimension within the unity of the
human person: a religious dimension and a social dimension. In this
regard, "it is inconceivable that believers should have to suppress a
part of themselves – their faith – in order to be active citizens. It
should never be necessary to deny God in order to enjoy one’s rights".6
The family, the school of freedom and peace
4. If religious freedom is the path to peace,
religious education is the highway which leads new generations to see
others as their brothers and sisters, with whom they are called to
journey and work together so that all will feel that they are living
members of the one human family, from which no one is to be excluded.
The family founded on marriage, as the expression of
the close union and complementarity between a man and a woman, finds its
place here as the first school for the social, cultural, moral and
spiritual formation and growth of children, who should always be able to
see in their father and mother the first witnesses of a life directed
to the pursuit of truth and the love of God.
Parents must be always free
to transmit to their children, responsibly and without constraints,
their heritage of faith, values and culture. The family, the first cell
of human society, remains the primary training ground for harmonious
relations at every level of coexistence, human, national and
international.
Wisdom suggests that this is the road to building a
strong and fraternal social fabric, in which young people can be
prepared to assume their proper responsibilities in life, in a free
society, and in a spirit of understanding and peace.
A common patrimony
5. It could be said that among the fundamental rights
and freedoms rooted in the dignity of the person, religious freedom
enjoys a special status. When religious freedom is acknowledged, the
dignity of the human person is respected at its root, and the ethos and
institutions of peoples are strengthened. On the other hand, whenever
religious freedom is denied, and attempts are made to hinder people from
professing their religion or faith and living accordingly, human
dignity is offended, with a resulting threat to justice and peace, which
are grounded in that right social order established in the light of
Supreme Truth and Supreme Goodness.
Religious freedom is, in this sense, also an
achievement of a sound political and juridical culture. It is an
essential good: each person must be able freely to exercise the right to
profess and manifest, individually or in community, his or her own
religion or faith, in public and in private, in teaching, in practice,
in publications, in worship and in ritual observances.
There should be
no obstacles should he or she eventually wish to belong to another
religion or profess none at all. In this context, international law is a
model and an essential point of reference for states, insofar as it
allows no derogation from religious freedom, as long as the just
requirements of public order are observed.7
The international order thus
recognizes that rights of a religious nature have the same status as
the right to life and to personal freedom, as proof of the fact that
they belong to the essential core of human rights, to those universal
and natural rights which human law can never deny.
Religious freedom is not the exclusive patrimony of
believers, but of the whole family of the earth’s peoples. It is an
essential element of a constitutional state; it cannot be denied without
at the same time encroaching on all fundamental rights and freedoms,
since it is their synthesis and keystone.
It is "the litmus test for the
respect of all the other human rights".8 While it favours the exercise
of our most specifically human faculties, it creates the necessary
premises for the attainment of an integral development which concerns
the whole of the person in every single dimension.9
The public dimension of religion
6. Religious freedom, like every freedom, proceeds
from the personal sphere and is achieved in relationship with others.
Freedom without relationship is not full freedom.
Religious freedom is
not limited to the individual dimension alone, but is attained within
one’s community and in society, in a way consistent with the relational
being of the person and the public nature of religion.
Relationship is a decisive component in religious
freedom, which impels the community of believers to practise solidarity
for the common good. In this communitarian dimension, each person
remains unique and unrepeatable, while at the same time finding
completion and full realization.
The contribution of religious communities to society
is undeniable. Numerous charitable and cultural institutions testify to
the constructive role played by believers in the life of society.
More
important still is religion’s ethical contribution in the political
sphere.
Religion should not be marginalized or prohibited, but seen as
making an effective contribution to the promotion of the common good. In
this context mention should be made of the religious dimension of
culture, built up over centuries thanks to the social and especially
ethical contributions of religion.
This dimension is in no way
discriminatory towards those who do not share its beliefs, but instead
reinforces social cohesion, integration and solidarity.
Religious freedom, a force for freedom and civilization: dangers arising from its exploitation
7. The exploitation of religious freedom to disguise
hidden interests, such as the subversion of the established order, the
hoarding of resources or the grip on power of a single group, can cause
enormous harm to societies.
Fanaticism, fundamentalism and practices
contrary to human dignity can never be justified, even less so in the
name of religion. The profession of a religion cannot be exploited or
imposed by force.
States and the various human communities must never
forget that religious freedom is the condition for the pursuit of truth,
and truth does not impose itself by violence but "by the force of its
own truth".10 In this sense, religion is a positive driving force for
the building of civil and political society.
How can anyone deny the contribution of the world’s
great religions to the development of civilization?
The sincere search
for God has led to greater respect for human dignity.
Christian
communities, with their patrimony of values and principles, have
contributed much to making individuals and peoples aware of their
identity and their dignity, the establishment of democratic institutions
and the recognition of human rights and their corresponding duties.
Today too, in an increasingly globalized society,
Christians are called, not only through their responsible involvement in
civic, economic and political life but also through the witness of
their charity and faith, to offer a valuable contribution to the
laborious and stimulating pursuit of justice, integral human development
and the right ordering of human affairs.
The exclusion of religion from
public life deprives the latter of a dimension open to transcendence.
Without this fundamental experience it becomes difficult to guide
societies towards universal ethical principles and to establish at the
national and international level a legal order which fully recognizes
and respects fundamental rights and freedoms as these are set forth in
the goals – sadly still disregarded or contradicted – of the 1948
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
An issue of justice and civility: fundamentalism and hostility to believers compromise the positive secularity of states
8. The same determination that condemns every form of
fanaticism and religious fundamentalism must also oppose every form of
hostility to religion that would restrict the public role of believers
in civil and political life.
It should be clear that religious fundamentalism and
secularism are alike in that both represent extreme forms of a rejection
of legitimate pluralism and the principle of secularity.
Both
absolutize a reductive and partial vision of the human person, favouring
in the one case forms of religious integralism and, in the other, of
rationalism. A society that would violently impose or, on the contrary,
reject religion is not only unjust to individuals and to God, but also
to itself.
God beckons humanity with a loving plan that, while engaging
the whole person in his or her natural and spiritual dimensions, calls
for a free and responsible answer which engages the whole heart and
being, individual and communitarian.
Society too, as an expression of
the person and of all his or her constitutive dimensions, must live and
organize itself in a way that favours openness to transcendence.
Precisely for this reason, the laws and institutions of a society cannot
be shaped in such a way as to ignore the religious dimension of its
citizens or to prescind completely from it.
Through the democratic
activity of citizens conscious of their lofty calling, those laws and
institutions must adequately reflect the authentic nature of the person
and support its religious dimension.
Since the latter is not a creation
of the state, it cannot be manipulated by the state, but must rather be
acknowledged and respected by it.
Whenever the legal system at any level, national or
international, allows or tolerates religious or antireligious
fanaticism, it fails in its mission, which is to protect and promote
justice and the rights of all.
These matters cannot be left to the
discretion of the legislator or the majority since, as Cicero once
pointed out, justice is something more than a mere act which produces
and applies law.
It entails acknowledging the dignity of each person11
which, unless religious freedom is guaranteed and lived in its essence,
ends up being curtailed and offended, exposed to the risk of falling
under the sway of idols, of relative goods which then become absolute.
All this exposes society to the risk of forms of political and
ideological totalitarianism which emphasize public power while demeaning
and restricting freedom of conscience, thought and religion as
potential competitors.
Dialogue between civil and religious institutions
9. The patrimony of principles and values expressed by
an authentic religiosity is a source of enrichment for peoples and
their ethos.
It speaks directly to the conscience and mind of men and
women, it recalls the need for moral conversion, and it encourages the
practice of the virtues and a loving approach to others as brothers and
sisters, as members of the larger human family.12
With due respect for the positive secularity of state
institutions, the public dimension of religion must always be
acknowledged.
A healthy dialogue between civil and religious
institutions is fundamental for the integral development of the human
person and social harmony.
Living in love and in truth
10. In a globalized world marked by increasingly
multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies, the great religions can
serve as an important factor of unity and peace for the human family.
On
the basis of their religious convictions and their reasoned pursuit of
the common good, their followers are called to give responsible
expression to their commitment within a context of religious freedom.
Amid the variety of religious cultures, there is a need to value those
elements which foster civil coexistence, while rejecting whatever is
contrary to the dignity of men and women.
The public space which the international community
makes available for the religions and their proposal of what constitutes
a "good life" helps to create a measure of agreement about truth and
goodness, and a moral consensus; both of these are fundamental to a just
and peaceful coexistence.
The leaders of the great religions, thanks to
their position, their influence and their authority in their respective
communities, are the first ones called to mutual respect and dialogue.
Christians, for their part, are spurred by their faith
in God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, to live as brothers and
sisters who encounter one another in the Church and work together in
building a world where individuals and peoples "shall not hurt or
destroy … for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as
the waters cover the sea" (Is 11:9).
Dialogue as a shared pursuit
11. For the Church, dialogue between the followers of
the different religions represents an important means of cooperating
with all religious communities for the common good. The Church herself
rejects nothing of what is true and holy in the various religions.
"She
has a high regard for those ways of life and conduct, precepts and
doctrines which, although differing in many ways from her own teaching,
nevertheless often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men
and women".13
The path to take is not the way of relativism or
religious syncretism.
The Church, in fact, "proclaims, and is in duty
bound to proclaim without fail, Christ who is the way, the truth and the
life (Jn 14:6); in Christ, in whom God reconciled all things to
himself, people find the fullness of the religious life".14
Yet this in
no way excludes dialogue and the common pursuit of truth in different
areas of life, since, as Saint Thomas Aquinas would say, "every truth,
whoever utters it, comes from the Holy Spirit".15
The year 2011 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of
the World Day of Prayer for Peace convened in Assisi in 1986 by Pope
John Paul II.
On that occasion the leaders of the great world religions
testified to the fact that religion is a factor of union and peace, and
not of division and conflict.
The memory of that experience gives reason
to hope for a future in which all believers will see themselves, and
will actually be, agents of justice and peace.
Moral truth in politics and diplomacy
12. Politics and diplomacy should look to the moral
and spiritual patrimony offered by the great religions of the world in
order to acknowledge and affirm universal truths, principles and values
which cannot be denied without denying the dignity of the human person.
But what does it mean, in practical terms, to promote moral truth in the
world of politics and diplomacy?
It means acting in a responsible way
on the basis of an objective and integral knowledge of the facts; it
means deconstructing political ideologies which end up supplanting truth
and human dignity in order to promote pseudo-values under the pretext
of peace, development and human rights; it means fostering an unswerving
commitment to base positive law on the principles of the natural law.16
All this is necessary and consistent with the respect for the dignity
and worth of the human person enshrined by the world’s peoples in the
1945 Charter of the United Nations, which presents universal values and
moral principles as a point of reference for the norms, institutions and
systems governing coexistence on the national and international levels.
Beyond hatred and prejudice
13. Despite the lessons of history and the efforts of
states, international and regional organizations, non-governmental
organizations and the many men and women of good will who daily work to
protect fundamental rights and freedoms, today’s world also witnesses
cases of persecution, discrimination, acts of violence and intolerance
based on religion.
In a particular way, in Asia and in Africa, the chief
victims are the members of religious minorities, who are prevented from
freely professing or changing their religion by forms of intimidation
and the violation of their rights, basic freedoms and essential goods,
including the loss of personal freedom and life itself.
There also exist – as I have said – more sophisticated
forms of hostility to religion which, in Western countries,
occasionally find expression in a denial of history and the rejection of
religious symbols which reflect the identity and the culture of the
majority of citizens.
Often these forms of hostility also foster hatred
and prejudice; they are inconsistent with a serene and balanced vision
of pluralism and the secularity of institutions, to say nothing of the
fact that coming generations risk losing contact with the priceless
spiritual heritage of their countries.
Religion is defended by defending the rights and
freedoms of religious communities.
The leaders of the great world
religions and the leaders of nations should therefore renew their
commitment to promoting and protecting religious freedom, and in
particular to defending religious minorities; these do not represent a
threat to the identity of the majority but rather an opportunity for
dialogue and mutual cultural enrichment.
Defending them is the ideal way
to consolidate the spirit of good will, openness and reciprocity which
can ensure the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms in all
areas and regions of the world.
Religious freedom in the world
14. Finally I wish to say a word to the Christian
communities suffering from persecution, discrimination, violence and
intolerance, particularly in Asia, in Africa, in the Middle East and
especially in the Holy Land, a place chosen and blessed by God.
I assure
them once more of my paternal affection and prayers, and I ask all
those in authority to act promptly to end every injustice against the
Christians living in those lands.
In the face of present difficulties,
may Christ’s followers not lose heart, for witnessing to the Gospel is,
and always will be, a sign of contradiction.
Let us take to heart the words of the Lord Jesus:
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted … Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be
satisfied … Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and
utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and
be glad, for your reward is great in heaven" (Mt 5:4-12).
Then let us
renew "the pledge we give to be forgiving and to pardon when we invoke
God’s forgiveness in the Our Father. We ourselves lay down the condition
and the extent of the mercy we ask for when we say: ‘And forgive us our
debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us’ (Mt 6:12)".17
Violence is not overcome by violence. May our cries of pain always be
accompanied by faith, by hope and by the witness of our love of God. I
also express my hope that in the West, and especially in Europe, there
will be an end to hostility and prejudice against Christians because
they are resolved to orient their lives in a way consistent with the
values and principles expressed in the Gospel.
May Europe rather be
reconciled to its own Christian roots, which are fundamental for
understanding its past, present and future role in history; in this way
it will come to experience justice, concord and peace by cultivating a
sincere dialogue with all peoples.
Religious freedom, the path to peace
15. The world needs God. It needs universal, shared
ethical and spiritual values, and religion can offer a precious
contribution to their pursuit, for the building of a just and peaceful
social order at the national and international levels.
Peace is a gift of God and at the same time a task
which is never fully completed.
A society reconciled with God is closer
to peace, which is not the mere absence of war or the result of military
or economic supremacy, much less deceptive ploys or clever
manipulation.
Rather, peace is the result of a process of purification
and of cultural, moral and spiritual elevation involving each individual
and people, a process in which human dignity is fully respected.
I
invite all those who wish to be peacemakers, especially the young, to
heed the voice speaking within their hearts and thus to find in God the
stable point of reference for attaining authentic freedom, the
inexhaustible force which can give the world a new direction and spirit,
and overcome the mistakes of the past.
In the words of Pope Paul VI, to
whose wisdom and farsightedness we owe the institution of the World Day
of Peace: "It is necessary before all else to provide peace with other
weapons – different from those destined to kill and exterminate mankind.
What are needed above all are moral weapons, those which give strength
and prestige to international law – the weapon, in the first place, of
the observance of pacts".18
Religious freedom is an authentic weapon of
peace, with an historical and prophetic mission.
Peace brings to full
fruition the deepest qualities and potentials of the human person, the
qualities which can change the world and make it better. It gives hope
for a future of justice and peace, even in the face of grave injustice
and material and moral poverty.
May all men and women, and societies at
every level and in every part of the earth, soon be able to experience
religious freedom, the path to peace!
From the Vatican, 8 December 2010
BENEDICTUS PP XVI
_____________________________
1 Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, 29, 55-57.
2 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 2.
3 Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, 78.
4 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions Nostra Aetate, 1.
5 ID., Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 7.
6 BENEDICT XVI, Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations (18 April 2008): AAS 100 (2008), 337.
7 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 2.
8 JOHN PAUL II, Address to Participants in the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) (10 October 2003), 1: AAS 96 (2004), 111.
9 Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, 11.
10 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, 1.
11 Cf. CICERO, De Inventione, II, 160.
12 Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Address to Representatives of
Other Religions in the United Kingdom (17 September 2010): L’Osservatore
Romano (18 September 2010), p. 12.
13 Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions Nostra Aetate, 2.
14 Ibid.
15 Super Evangelium Joannis, I, 3.
16 Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Address to Civil Authorities and
the Diplomatic Corps in Cyprus (4 June 2010): L’Osservatore Romano (6
June 2010), p. 8; INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION, The Search for
Universal Ethics: A New Look at Natural Law, Vatican City, 2009.
17 PAUL VI, Message for the 1976 World Day of Peace: AAS 67 (1975), 671.
18 Ibid., p. 668.
[01797-01.01] [Original text in Italian]
[B0780-XX.01]
SIC: AN/INT'L