WORLD DAY OF PEACE
1st January,
2013
On January 1, the Church will commemorate the 46th World Day of
Peace. Pope Benedict’s message for the day is entitled “Blessed Are the
Peacemakers.”
Sua Santita` il Venerabile Papa Paolo VI
Fratelli e Figli! Uomini tutti che Ci ascoltate!
Pace! Pace! Noi annunciamo: pace,
pace al nuovo anno Noi auguriamo! pace a voi qui presenti, cittadini di Roma,
che la sua civiltà volle espressa e sancita nella sua «Pax romana», fondata
sull’universale estensione della eguaglianza dei diritti dei suoi cittadini,
fieri e liberi nella saggezza dinamica dei suoi ordinamenti giuridici; siate
coscienti e degni di tanto retaggio! Anche a voi, pace, Ospiti dell’Urbe, visitatori,
pellegrini, qua convenuti dall’Italia e da ogni altro Paese, e qui associati,
non forestieri, ma amici, a questa affermazione fraterna d’alto e comune
sentimento umano! E pace a tutti coloro che hanno accolto il Nostro invito a
dedicare a tale grande ideale della pace questo primo giorno dell’anno civile
quasi per farne speranza ed impegno per ogni giorno, ogni attività del tempo
che viene: vi ringraziamo tutti, specialmente voi, guide delle Nazioni, voi
magistrati della giustizia, voi professori e cercatori della verità e della
cultura, voi antichi combattenti, che per le cicatrici fisiche e morali,
inferte nella vostra carne e nel vostro spirito dalle recenti guerre, meglio
d’ogni altro sapete quale conquista sia la pace, voi giovani, voi lavoratori,
voi gente del popolo, sincera ed intuitiva su ciò ch’è veramente bene per la
moderna società, tutti vi ringraziamo per la vostra adesione a questa corale
celebrazione della pace.
Dovunque oggi echeggia questo nome
benedetto giunga ora il Nostro saluto fraterno e paterno ed il Nostro augurio
di pace, con quanto la pace deve recare con sé: l’ordine, la serenità, la
letizia, la fraternità, la libertà, la speranza, l’energia e la sicurezza del
buon lavoro, il proposito di ricominciare e di progredire, il benessere sano e
comune, e quella misteriosa capacità di godere la vita scoprendone i rapporti con
il suo intimo principio e con il suo fine supremo: il Dio della pace.
E così tutto per ora sarebbe detto
su questo immenso e formidabile tema.
Se non che al solo pronunciare e
ripetere questa fatidica parola: pace, parola amica ed umana quant’altre mai,
un sentimento sorge nel Nostro spirito, che non possiamo tacere, anche perché
esso tenta soffocare il Nostro grido di pace e quasi disilludere la speranza
ch’esso reca con sé. Ed è il sentimento delle difficoltà che si oppongono al
conseguimento della pace. Le condizioni presenti stesse del mondo le svelano e
le impongono queste difficoltà, con una forza, che pare dichiararle fatali e
insuperabili: la pace, ad esempio, oggi non esiste, in varie parti del mondo, e
in particolare in una regione da noi spazialmente remota, ma tanto
spiritualmente vicina, voi ben sapete che Noi alludiamo al Viet-nam; e mentre
all’esame spassionato degli interessi civili in gioco e dell’onore delle parti
contendenti a Noi sembra che la via della pace sia tuttora aperta e possibile,
anche se complessa e graduale, ecco che nuovi terribili ostacoli sorgono a
complicare con nuovi problemi e nuove minacce l’intricata questione, aumentando
pericoli, rancori, rovine, lacrime e vittime.
Noi vorremmo scongiurare la tremenda
sciagura d’una guerra che cresce, d’una guerra senza fine. Noi osiamo esortare
le Potenze implicate nel conflitto a tentare ogni atto che possa portare alla
soluzione onorevole della dolorosa vertenza; la stessa esortazione rivolgiamo
alle Istituzioni internazionali, che ne abbiano la possibilità. E Noi
scongiuriamo, oggi ancora, le Parti in conflitto a porre tregua sincera e
durevole alla lotta, tanto grave e spietata; non è forse da tutti desiderabile,
e non è forse praticamente possibile, che leali trattative restituiscano la
concordia fra gli abitanti di quel caro e gentile Paese, garantendo loro
indipendenza e libertà? Noi lo pensiamo; Noi lo auguriamo «in spe, contra
spem». Ed a ciò Ci conforta il prolungamento concesso di alcune ore della
tregua d’armi, già fissata per questo Capo d’anno, secondo lo spirito del
Nostro invito alla Giornata della pace: piccolo segno, quasi puramente
simbolico, ma assai cortese e significativo, ed a Noi, come a tutti certamente,
molto gradito, quasi presagio di eventi migliori.
Questo tristissimo caso del Viet-nam
basta a dimostrare quanto la pace sia difficile, anche quando potrebbe essere
raggiunta. È difficile la pace quando la contesa si .fa ideologica. In queste
congiunture la confusione dei giudizi e delle opinioni aggrava la situazione.
Il mondo guarda, si appassiona, commenta e deplora, cercando di capire dove sia
la giustizia; e nella difficoltà di trovare la buona soluzione, sente crescere
la tentazione d’iscrivere la pace fra le utopie: una grande utopia, degna
d’essere annoverata fra le energie migliori che muovono la storia, ma destinata
sempre a rimanere fallace.
Questo aspetto della pace, cioè la
difficoltà a raggiungerla e a mantenerla, è quello che principalmente Ci muove
a parlarne, e che Ci obbliga a dichiarare, anche contro ogni apparenza, la pace
possibile, sempre; la pace doverosa, sempre. È da questa fiducia, è da questo
dovere che muove la Nostra campagna per la pace. Sì, la pace è possibile,
perché gli uomini, in fondo, sono buoni, sono orientati verso la ragione,
l’ordine ed il bene comune; è possibile perché è nel cuore degli uomini nuovi,
dei giovani, delle persone intuitive del cammino della civiltà; è possibile,
perché a reclamarla sono le voci più care, quelle dei Nostri figli, quelle
delle vittime degli umani conflitti, i feriti, i profughi, i devastati, quelle
delle madri piangenti, quelle delle vedove e quelle dei caduti; voci, che tutte
invocano pace, pace! Sì, è possibile, perché Cristo è venuto al mondo, ed ha
proclamato l’universale fratellanza ed ha insegnato l’amore.
Certo, è difficile, si, perché
spesso, nonostante le buone intenzioni conclamate, prima che negli avvenimenti
e negli ordinamenti esteriori, la pace dev’essere negli animi, dove si annida
l’egoismo, l’orgoglio, il sogno di potenza e di dominio, l’ideologia
dell’esclusivismo, della sopraffazione, della ribellione con la sete di
vendetta e di sangue.
Fratelli e Figli: è a questo
superamento d’idee inumane, d’istinti superbi e di passioni bellicose, che la
Giornata della pace è rivolta; ed è alla formazione di cuori forti nella bontà
e nella comprensione che ogni uomo è fratello, che la vita umana è sacra, che
la magnanimità del perdono e la capacità di riconciliarsi è grande arte sociale
e politica, che tende il Nostro sforzo per la vittoria della pace.
Il Nostro sforzo che cosa può fare?
Non è anch’esso un vano conato, che accresce il numero dei tentativi falliti?
Cosi sarebbe, Fratelli e Figli, se un ausilio superiore, quello di Dio, Padre
ottimo e misericordioso, non lo ispirasse e non lo sostenesse. È l’ausilio che
la preghiera può ottenere ed innestare nel groviglio delle umane contese per
scioglierle in maniera impensata e felice.
Alla preghiera perciò ora vi
invitiamo, alla preghiera ad una voce e ad un Cuor solo, per la pace nel mondo.
Italiano:
Pace al mondo, nel nome del Signore!
Francese:
Paix au monde, au nom du Seigneur!
Inglese:
Peace to the World, in the name of the Lord!
Spagnuolo:
Paz al mundo, en el nombre del Señor!
Tedesco:
Friede aller Welt, im namen des Herrn!
Portoghese:
Paz ao mundo, em nome do Senhor!
Polacco:
Pokój swiatu, w imie Panskie!
Greco:
Ειρήνη τω κόσμω, εν ονόματι Κυρίου.
Vietnamese:
Hoà binh cho thè giòi, nhan dahn Chúa.
Russo:
Мир мирү во Имя гослодне.
Cinese:
In U-ciu cih ming, ho-ping ta yü p’u-scih.
Ed ecco il testo della
preghiera di Paolo VI:
«Signore, Dio di pace, che hai
creato gli uomini, oggetto della tua benevolenza, per essere i familiari della
tua gloria, noi ti benediciamo e ti rendiamo grazie: perché ci hai inviato
Gesù, tuo Figlio amatissimo, hai fatto di lui, nel mistero della sua Pasqua,
l’artefice di ogni salvezza, la sorgente di ogni pace, il legame di ogni
fraternità.
Noi ti rendiamo grazie per i
desideri, gli sforzi, le realizzazioni che il tuo Spirito di pace ha suscitato
nel nostro tempo, per sostituire l’odio con l’amore, la diffidenza con la
comprensione, l’indifferenza con la solidarietà. Apri ancor più i nostri
spiriti e i nostri cuori alle esigenze concrete dell’amore di tutti i nostri
fratelli, affinché possiamo essere sempre più costruttori di pace.
Ricordati, Padre di misericordia, di
tutti quelli che sono in pena, soffrono e muoiono nel parto di un mondo più
fraterno. Che per gli uomini di ogni lingua venga il tuo Regno di giustizia, di
pace e d’amore. E che la terra sia ripiena della tua gloria! Amen».
1st JANUARY 2002
The Blessed Pope John Paul II
NO PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE
NO JUSTICE WITHOUT FORGIVENESS
1. The World Day of Peace this year is
being celebrated in the shadow of the dramatic events of 11 September
last. On that day, a terrible crime was committed: in a few brief hours
thousands of innocent people of many ethnic backgrounds were slaughtered. Since
then, people throughout the world have felt a profound personal vulnerability
and a new fear for the future. Addressing this state of mind, the Church
testifies to her hope, based on the conviction that evil, the mysterium iniquitatis, does
not have the final word in human affairs. The history of salvation, narrated in
Sacred Scripture, sheds clear light on the entire history of the world and
shows us that human events are always accompanied by the merciful Providence of
God, who knows how to touch even the most hardened of hearts and bring good
fruits even from what seems utterly barren soil.
This is the hope which sustains the Church at the
beginning of 2002: that, by the grace of God, a world in which the power of
evil seems once again to have taken the upper hand will in fact be transformed
into a world in which the noblest aspirations of the human heart will triumph,
a world in which true peace will prevail.
Peace: the work of justice and love
2. Recent events, including the terrible killings
just mentioned, move me to return to a theme which often stirs in the depths of
my heart when I remember the events of history which have marked my life,
especially my youth.
The enormous suffering of peoples and individuals,
even among my own friends and acquaintances, caused by Nazi and Communist
totalitarianism, has never been far from my thoughts and prayers. I have often
paused to reflect on the persistent question: how do we restore the
moral and social order subjected to such horrific violence? My
reasoned conviction, confirmed in turn by biblical revelation, is that the
shattered order cannot be fully restored except by a response that combines
justice with forgiveness. The pillars of true peace are justice and
that form of love which is forgiveness.
3. But in the present circumstances, how can we
speak of justice and forgiveness as the source and condition of peace? We
can and we must, no matter how difficult this may be; a difficulty which
often comes from thinking that justice and forgiveness are irreconcilable. But
forgiveness is the opposite of resentment and revenge, not of justice. In fact,
true peace is “the work of justice” (Is 32:17). As the Second
Vatican Council put it, peace is “the fruit of that right ordering of things
with which the divine founder has invested human society and which must be
actualized by man thirsting for an ever more perfect reign of justice”
(Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et
Spes, 78). For more than fifteen hundred years, the Catholic
Church has repeated the teaching of Saint Augustine of Hippo on this point. He
reminds us that the peace which can and must be built in this world is the
peace of right order—tranquillitas ordinis,
the tranquillity of order (cf. De Civitate Dei, 19,13). True
peace therefore is the fruit of justice, that moral virtue and legal guarantee
which ensures full respect for rights and responsibilities, and the just
distribution of benefits and burdens. But because human justice is always
fragile and imperfect, subject as it is to the limitations and egoism of
individuals and groups, it must include and, as it were, be completed by the forgiveness
which heals and rebuilds troubled human relations from their foundations.
This is true in circumstances great and small, at the personal level or on a
wider, even international scale. Forgiveness is in no way opposed to justice,
as if to forgive meant to overlook the need to right the wrong done. It is
rather the fullness of justice, leading to that tranquillity of order which is
much more than a fragile and temporary cessation of hostilities, involving as
it does the deepest healing of the wounds which fester in human hearts. Justice
and forgiveness are both essential to such healing.
It is these two dimensions of peace that I wish to
explore in this message. The World Day of Peace this year offers all humanity,
and particularly the leaders of nations, the opportunity to reflect upon the
demands of justice and the call to forgiveness in the face of the grave
problems which continue to afflict the world, not the least of which is the
new level of violence introduced by organized terrorism.
The reality of terrorism
4. It is precisely peace born of justice and
forgiveness that is under assault today by international terrorism. In recent
years, especially since the end of the Cold War, terrorism has developed into a
sophisticated network of political, economic and technical collusion which goes
beyond national borders to embrace the whole world. Well-organized terrorist
groups can count on huge financial resources and develop wide-ranging
strategies, striking innocent people who have nothing to do with the aims
pursued by the terrorists.
When terrorist organizations use their own
followers as weapons to be launched against defenceless and unsuspecting people
they show clearly the death-wish that feeds them. Terrorism springs from
hatred, and it generates isolation, mistrust and closure. Violence is added to
violence in a tragic sequence that exasperates successive generations, each one
inheriting the hatred which divided those that went before. Terrorism
is built on contempt for human life. For this reason, not only does it
commit intolerable crimes, but because it resorts to terror as a political and
military means it is itself a true crime against humanity.
5. There exists therefore a right to defend
oneself against terrorism, a right which, as always, must be exercised
with respect for moral and legal limits in the choice of ends and means. The
guilty must be correctly identified, since criminal culpability is always
personal and cannot be extended to the nation, ethnic group or religion to
which the terrorists may belong. International cooperation in the fight against
terrorist activities must also include a courageous and resolute political,
diplomatic and economic commitment to relieving situations of oppression and
marginalization which facilitate the designs of terrorists. The recruitment of
terrorists in fact is easier in situations where rights are trampled upon and
injustices tolerated over a long period of time.
Still, it must be firmly stated that the injustices
existing in the world can never be used to excuse acts of terrorism, and it
should be noted that the victims of the radical breakdown of order which
terrorism seeks to achieve include above all the countless millions of men and
women who are least well-positioned to withstand a collapse of international
solidarity—namely, the people of the developing world, who already live on a
thin margin of survival and who would be most grievously affected by global
economic and political chaos. The terrorist claim to be acting on behalf of the
poor is a patent falsehood.
You shall not kill in God's name!
6. Those who kill by acts of terrorism actually
despair of humanity, of life, of the future. In their view, everything is to be
hated and destroyed. Terrorists hold that the truth in which they believe or
the suffering that they have undergone are so absolute that their reaction in
destroying even innocent lives is justified. Terrorism is often the outcome of
that fanatic fundamentalism which springs from the conviction that
one's own vision of the truth must be forced upon everyone else. Instead, even
when the truth has been reached—and this can happen only in a limited and
imperfect way—it can never be imposed. Respect for a person's conscience, where
the image of God himself is reflected (cf. Gen 1:26-27), means
that we can only propose the truth to others, who are then responsible for
accepting it. To try to impose on others by violent means what we consider to
be the truth is an offence against human dignity, and ultimately an offence
against God whose image that person bears. For this reason, what is usually
referred to as fundamentalism is an attitude radically opposed to belief in
God. Terrorism exploits not just people, it exploits God: it
ends by making him an idol to be used for one's own purposes.
7. Consequently, no religious leader can
condone terrorism, and much less preach it. It is a profanation of
religion to declare oneself a terrorist in the name of God, to do violence to
others in his name. Terrorist violence is a contradiction of faith
in God, the Creator of man, who cares for man and loves him. It is altogether
contrary to faith in Christ the Lord, who taught his disciples to pray: “Forgive
us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Mt 6:12).
Following the teaching and example of Jesus,
Christians hold that to show mercy is to live out the truth of our lives: we
can and must be merciful because mercy has been shown us by a God who is Love
(cf. 1 Jn 4:7-12). The God who enters into history to redeem
us, and through the dramatic events of Good Friday prepares the victory of
Easter Sunday, is a God of mercy and forgiveness (cf. Ps 103:3-4,
10-13). Thus Jesus told those who challenged his dining with sinners: “Go and learn
what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice'. For I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners” (Mt 9:13). The followers of Christ,
baptized into his redeeming Death and Resurrection, must always be men and
women of mercy and forgiveness.
The need for forgiveness
8. But what does forgiveness actually mean?
And why should we forgive? A reflection on forgiveness cannot avoid
these questions. Returning to what I wrote in my Message for the 1997 World Day
of Peace (“Offer Forgiveness and Receive Peace”), I would reaffirm that
forgiveness inhabits people's hearts before it becomes a social reality. Only
to the degree that an ethics and a culture of forgiveness prevail can we hope
for a “politics” of forgiveness, expressed in society's attitudes and laws, so
that through them justice takes on a more human character.
Forgiveness is above all a personal choice, a
decision of the heart to go against the natural instinct to pay back evil with
evil. The measure of such a decision is the love of God who draws us to himself
in spite of our sin. It has its perfect exemplar in the forgiveness of Christ,
who on the Cross prayed: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”
(Lk 23:34).
Forgiveness therefore has a divine source and
criterion. This does not mean that its significance cannot also be grasped in
the light of human reasoning; and this, in the first place, on the basis of
what people experience when they do wrong. They experience their human
weakness, and they want others to deal leniently with them. Why not therefore
do towards others what we want them to do towards us? All human beings cherish
the hope of being able to start all over again, and not remain for ever shut up
in their own mistakes and guilt. They all want to raise their eyes to the
future and to discover new possibilities of trust and
commitment.
9. Forgiveness therefore, as a fully human act, is
above all a personal initiative. But individuals are essentially social beings,
situated within a pattern of relationships through which they express
themselves in ways both good and bad. Consequently, society too is
absolutely in need of forgiveness. Families, groups, societies, States
and the international community itself need forgiveness in order to renew ties
that have been sundered, go beyond sterile situations of mutual condemnation
and overcome the temptation to discriminate against others without appeal. The
ability to forgive lies at the very basis of the idea of a future society
marked by justice and solidarity.
By contrast, the failure to forgive, especially
when it serves to prolong conflict, is extremely costly in terms of human
development. Resources are used for weapons rather than for development, peace
and justice. What sufferings are inflicted on humanity because of the failure
to reconcile! What delays in progress because of the failure to forgive! Peace
is essential for development, but true peace is made possible only through
forgiveness.
Forgiveness, the high road
10. Forgiveness is not a proposal that can be
immediately understood or easily accepted; in many ways it is a paradoxical
message. Forgiveness in fact always involves an apparentshort-term
loss for a real long-term gain. Violence is the exact
opposite; opting as it does for an apparent short‑term gain, it involves a real
and permanent loss. Forgiveness may seem like weakness, but it demands great
spiritual strength and moral courage, both in granting it and in accepting it.
It may seem in some way to diminish us, but in fact it leads us to a fuller and
richer humanity, more radiant with the splendour of the Creator.
My ministry at the service of the Gospel obliges
me, and at the same time gives me the strength, to insist upon the necessity of
forgiveness. I do so again today in the hope of stirring serious and mature
thinking on this theme, with a view to a far-reaching resurgence of the
human spirit in individual hearts and in relations between the peoples of the
world.
11. Reflecting on forgiveness, our minds turn
naturally to certain situations of conflict which endlessly feed deep and
divisive hatreds and a seemingly unstoppable sequence of personal and
collective tragedies. I refer especially to what is happening in the Holy Land,
that blessed place of God's encounter with man, where Jesus, the Prince of
Peace, lived, died and rose from the dead.
The present troubled international situation
prompts a more intense call to resolve the ArabIsraeli conflict, which has now
been going on for more than fifty years, with alternate phases of greater or
lesser tension. The continuous recourse to acts of terror and war, which
aggravate the situation and diminish hope on all sides, must finally give way
to a negotiated solution. The rights and demands of each party can be taken
into proper account and balanced in an equitable way, if and when there is a
will to let justice and reconciliation prevail. Once more I urge the beloved
peoples of the Holy Land to work for a new era of mutual respect and
constructive accord.
Interreligious understanding and cooperation
12. In this whole effort, religious leaders have a
weighty responsibility. The various Christian confessions, as well as the
world's great religions, need to work together to eliminate the social and
cultural causes of terrorism. They can do this by teaching the greatness and
dignity of the human person, and by spreading a clearer sense of the
oneness of the human family. This is a specific area of ecumenical and
interreligious dialogue and cooperation, a pressing service which religion can
offer to world peace.
In particular, I am convinced that Jewish,
Christian and Islamic religious leaders must now take the lead in publicly
condemning terrorism and in denying terrorists any form of religious or moral
legitimacy.
13. In bearing common witness to the truth that the
deliberate murder of the innocent is a grave evil always, everywhere, and
without exception, the world's religious leaders will help to form the morally
sound public opinion that is essential for building an international civil
society capable of pursuing the tranquillity of order in justice and
freedom.
In undertaking such a commitment, the various
religions cannot but pursue the path of forgiveness, which
opens the way to mutual understanding, respect and trust. The help that
religions can give to peace and against terrorism consists precisely in their teaching
forgiveness, for those who forgive and seek forgiveness know that there is
a higher Truth, and that by accepting that Truth they can transcend
themselves.
Prayer for peace
14. Precisely for this reason, prayer for peace is
not an afterthought to the work of peace. It is of the very essence of building
the peace of order, justice, and freedom. To pray for peace is to open the
human heart to the inroads of God's power to renew all things. With the
life-giving force of his grace, God can create openings for peace where only
obstacles and closures are apparent; he can strengthen and enlarge the solidarity
of the human family in spite of our endless history of division and conflict.
To pray for peace is to pray for justice, for a right-ordering of relations
within and among nations and peoples. It is to pray for freedom, especially for
the religious freedom that is a basic human and civil right of every
individual. To pray for peace is to seek God's forgiveness, and to implore the
courage to forgive those who have trespassed against us.
For all these reasons I have invited
representatives of the world's religions to come to Assisi, the town of Saint
Francis, on 24 January 2002, to pray for peace. In doing so we will show that
genuine religious belief is an inexhaustible wellspring of mutual respect and
harmony among peoples; indeed it is the chief antidote to violence and
conflict. At this time of great distress, the human family needs to be reminded
of our unfailing reasons for hope. It is precisely this hope that we intend to
proclaim in Assisi, asking Almighty God—in the beautiful phrase
attributed to Saint Francis himself—to make each of us a channel of his
peace.
15. No peace without justice, no justice
without forgiveness: this is what in this Message I wish to say to
believers and non-believers alike, to all men and women of good will who are concerned
for the good of the human family and for its future.
No peace without justice, no justice without
forgiveness: this is
what I wish to say to those responsible for the future of the human community,
entreating them to be guided in their weighty and difficult decisions by the
light of man's true good, always with a view to the common good.
No peace without justice, no justice without
forgiveness: I shall
not tire of repeating this warning to those who, for one reason or another,
nourish feelings of hatred, a desire for revenge or the will to destroy.
On this
World Day of Peace, may a more intense prayer rise from the hearts of all
believers for the victims of terrorism, for their families so tragically
stricken, for all the peoples who continue to be hurt and convulsed by
terrorism and war. May the light of our prayer extend even to those who gravely
offend God and man by these pitiless acts, that they may look into their
hearts, see the evil of what they do, abandon all violent intentions, and seek forgiveness.
In these troubled times, may the whole human family find true and lasting
peace, born of the marriage of justice and mercy
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