Pope's Speech to Diplomatic Corps in Ankara November 28, 2006 Ankara Turkey
Address by the Holy Father At his meeting with the Diplomatic Corps
(Ankara,
28 November 2006)
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I
greet you with great joy, Ambassadors charged with the noble task of representing
your countries to the Republic of Turkey, and assembled here in the Nunciature to
meet the Successor of Peter. I am grateful to your Vice-Dean, the Ambassador of Lebanon,
for the kind words which he has addressed to me. I am pleased to reconfirm the appreciation
that the Holy See has often expressed for the important duties that you perform, which
today take on an increasingly global dimension. In fact, while your mission calls
you above all to protect and promote the legitimate interests of your respective nations,
“the inevitable interdependence which today increasingly unites peoples of the world,
invites diplomats to be, in a new and original way, promoters of understanding, international
security and peace between nations” (John Paul II, Address to the Diplomatic Corps,
Mexico, 29 June 1979). I want to begin by calling to mind the memorable visits
of my two predecessors in Turkey, Pope Paul VI in 1967 and Pope John Paul II in 1979.
Nor could I fail to mention Pope Benedict XV, the untiring promoter of peace during
World War I, and Blessed John XXIII, the Pope known as the “friend of Turks”, who
after his years as Apostolic Delegate in Turkey and Apostolic Administrator of the
Latin Vicariate of Istanbul, left everyone with the memory of an attentive and loving
pastor, particularly eager to meet and come to know the Turkish people, whose grateful
guest he was! I am therefore happy to be a guest of Turkey today, having come here
as a friend and as an apostle of dialogue and peace. More than forty years ago,
the Second Vatican Council wrote that “Peace is more than the absence of war: it
cannot be reduced to the maintenance of a balance of power between opposing forces
… but it is the fruit of the right ordering of things with which the divine founder
has invested human society and which must be brought about by humanity in its thirst
for an ever more perfect reign of justice” (Gaudium et Spes, 78). We have come to
realize that true peace needs justice, to correct the economic imbalances and political
disturbances which always give rise to tension and threaten every society. The recent
developments in terrorism and in certain regional conflicts have highlighted the need
to respect the decisions of international institutions and also to support them, in
particular by giving them effective means to prevent conflicts and to maintain neutral
zones between belligerents, through the presence of peacekeeping forces. All this,
however, remains insufficient unless there is authentic dialogue, that is to say fruitful
debate between the parties concerned, in order to arrive at lasting and acceptable
political solutions, respectful of persons and peoples. I am thinking most especially
of the disturbing conflict in the Middle East, which shows no sign of abating and
weighs heavily on the whole of international life; I am thinking of the risk of peripheral
conflicts multiplying and terrorist actions spreading. I appreciate the efforts of
numerous countries currently engaged in rebuilding peace in Lebanon, Turkey among
them. In your presence, Ambassadors, I appeal once more to the vigilance of the international
community, that it not abandon its responsibilities, but make every effort to promote
dialogue among all parties involved, which alone can guarantee respect for others,
while safeguarding legitimate interests and rejecting recourse to violence. As I
wrote in my first World Day of Peace Message, “the truth of peace calls upon everyone
to cultivate productive and sincere relationships; it encourages them to seek out
and to follow the paths of forgiveness and reconciliation, to be transparent in their
dealings with others, and to be faithful to their word” (1 January 2006, 6). Turkey
has always served as a bridge between East and West, between Asia and Europe, and
as a crossroads of cultures and religions. During the last century, she acquired
the means to become a great modern State, notably by the choice of a secular regime,
with a clear distinction between civil society and religion, each of which was to
be autonomous in its proper domain while respecting the sphere of the other. The
fact that the majority of the population of this country is Muslim is a significant
element in the life of society, which the State cannot fail to take into account,
yet the Turkish Constitution recognizes every citizen’s right to freedom of worship
and freedom of conscience. The civil authorities of every democratic country are
duty bound to guarantee the effective freedom of all believers and to permit them
to organize freely the life of their religious communities. Naturally it is my hope
that believers, whichever religious community they belong to, will continue to benefit
from these rights, since I am certain that religious liberty is a fundamental expression
of human liberty and that the active presence of religions in society is a source
of progress and enrichment for all. This assumes, of course, that religions do not
seek to exercise direct political power, as that is not their province, and it also
assumes that they utterly refuse to sanction recourse to violence as a legitimate
expression of religion. In this regard, I appreciate the work of the Catholic community
in Turkey, small in number but deeply committed to contributing all it can to the
country’s development, notably by educating the young, and by building peace and harmony
among all citizens. As I have recently observed, “we are in great need of an authentic
dialogue between religions and between cultures, capable of assisting us, in a spirit
of fruitful co-operation, to overcome all the tensions together” (Address to the Ambassadors
of Countries with a Muslim Majority, Castel Gandolfo, 25 September 2006). This dialogue
must enable different religions to come to know one another better and to respect
one another, in order to work for the fulfilment of man’s noblest aspirations, in
search of God and in search of happiness. For my part, on the occasion of my visit
to Turkey, I wish to reiterate my great esteem for Muslims, encouraging them to continue
to work together, in mutual respect, to promote the dignity of every human being and
the growth of a society where personal freedom and care for others provide peace and
serenity for all. In this way, religions will be able to play their part in responding
to the numerous challenges currently facing our societies. Assuredly, recognition
of the positive role of religions within the fabric of society can and must impel
us to explore more deeply their knowledge of man and to respect his dignity, by placing
him at the centre of political, economic, cultural and social activity. Our world
must come to realize that all people are linked by profound solidarity with one another,
and they must be encouraged to assert their historical and cultural differences not
for the sake of confrontation, but in order to foster mutual respect. The Church,
as you know, has received a spiritual mission from her Founder and therefore she has
no intention of intervening directly in political or economic life. However, by virtue
of her mission and her long experience of the history of societies and cultures, she
wishes to make her voice heard in international debate, so that man’s fundamental
dignity, especially that of the weakest, may always be honoured. Given the recent
development of the phenomenon of globalized communications, the Holy See looks to
the international community to give a clearer lead by establishing rules for better
control of economic development, regulating markets, and fostering regional accords
between countries. I have no doubt, Ladies and Gentlemen, that in your mission as
diplomats you are eager to harmonize the particular interests of your country with
the need to maintain good relations with other countries, and that in this way you
can contribute significantly to the service of all. The voice of the Church on
the diplomatic scene is always characterized by the Gospel commitment to serve the
cause of humanity, and I would be failing in this fundamental obligation if I did
not remind you of the need always to place human dignity at the very heart of our
concerns. The world is experiencing an extraordinary development of science and technology,
with almost immediate consequences for medicine, agriculture and food production,
but also for the communication of knowledge; this process must not lack direction
or a human point of reference, when it relates to birth, education, manner of life
or work, of old age, or death. It is necessary to re-position modern progress within
the continuity of our human history and thus to guide it according to the plan written
into our nature for the growth of humanity – a plan expressed by the words of the
book of Genesis as follows: “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it”
(1:28). Finally, as my thoughts turn to the first Christian communities that
sprang up in this land, and especially to the Apostle Paul who established several
of them himself, allow me to quote from his Letter to the Galatians: “You were called
to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,
but through love be servants of one another” (5:13). I sincerely hope that the good
relations between nations, which it is your task to serve, may also contribute increasingly
to the genuine growth of humanity, created in the image of God. Such a noble goal
requires the contribution of all. For this reason the Catholic Church intends to
renew its co-operation with the Orthodox Church and I hope that my forthcoming meeting
with Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Phanar will effectively serve this objective.
As the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council emphasized, the Church seeks to cooperate
with believers and leaders of all religions, and especially with Muslims, in order
that together they may “preserve and promote peace, liberty, social justice and moral
values” (Nostra Aetate, 3). I hope, from this viewpoint, that my journey to Turkey
will bring abundant fruits. Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen, upon you, upon your
families and upon all your co-workers, I invoke with all my heart the Blessings of
the Almighty.