2010-01-01 13:17:29

World Peace Day Message 2010


(January 01, 2010) January 1st is recognized annually as the World Day of Peace. The United Nations invited the world to celebrate One Day in Peace, January 1, 2000, as the beginning of the International Decade for the Culture of Peace & Nonviolence for the Children of the World! If we can live for one day in peace, then we can work together to make peace last, one day at a time. The day has also come to be known as Global Family Day, a day for peace and sharing.
The degradation of the environment is a pressing moral problem that threatens peace and human life itself, Pope Benedict XVI said. "We cannot remain indifferent to what is happening around us, for the deterioration of any one part of the planet affects us all," the pope said in his message for World Peace Day, celebrated on January 1, 2010. Government policies, the activity of multinational corporations and the day-to-day behaviour of individuals all have an impact on the environment, the Pontiff said. While the future of the world hangs in the balance because of what people are doing today, the negative effects of pollution and environmental exploitation already can be seen, he said. "Can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change, desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions?" the pope asked. Already, he said, the world is seeing the "growing phenomenon of 'environmental refugees,' people who are forced by the degradation of their natural habitat" to migrate in search of food, water and unpolluted air. "It is becoming more and more evident that the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our lifestyle and the prevailing models of consumption and production, which are often unsustainable from a social, environmental and even economic point of view," the pope said. “Respect for creation is of immense consequence... and its preservation has now become essential for the pacific coexistence of mankind.”
In addition, he warned of the "actual and potential conflicts involving access to natural resources. Protecting the natural environment in order to build a world of peace is thus a duty incumbent upon each and all. It is an urgent challenge, one to be faced with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a providential opportunity to hand down to coming generations the prospect of a better future for all," the pope wrote. However, the Holy Father does not propose technical solutions or interfere in government policies. Rather, he recalls the church's commitment to defending the earth, water and air, which are the creator's gifts to humanity. However he refers to the previous pontiffs who had spoken on the environment and peace. Pope John Paul II had said: “ecological awareness, rather than being downplayed, needs to be helped to develop and mature, and find fitting expression in concrete programmes and initiatives”. In 1971, on the eightieth anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s Encyclical Rerum Novarum, Pope Paul VI pointed out that “by an ill-considered exploitation of nature, man risks destroying it and becoming in his turn the victim of this degradation”.
This Message for World Day of Peace 2010, entitled "If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation", was released just days before the conclusion of the Copenhagen conference on climate change. But Pope’s voice stands out from the chorus - sometimes not quite in agreement – of the voices expounding on the environment in recent days. First, the concern of the pope and the Church has dramatic, but not apocalyptic, as we have used the distressing film or articles over the years. And a quote from Pope Paul VI shows that the Church is concerned about the environment, even before it became fashionable or an economic interest. Sure, some of Messages’ points may find agreement among participants in Copenhagen. The inter-generational solidarity for example, has been much emphasized at the meeting with UN films and slogans to push for care of the climate for "future generations". Pope Benedict XVI observed that the "quest for peace by people of good will surely would become easier if all acknowledge the indivisible relationship between God, human beings and the whole of creation." He said that Christians have their own contribution to make in this endeavour, as they "contemplate the cosmos and its marvels in light of the creative work of the Father and the redemptive work of Christ." But cultivating world peace, the Pope affirmed, also means protecting creation.
With the real suffering environmental destruction already is causing and the devastation it will wreak in the future, the pope's message said, "humanity needs a profound cultural renewal; it needs to rediscover those values which can serve as the solid basis for building a brighter future for all. Our present crises -- be they economic, food-related, environmental or social -- are ultimately also moral crises and all of them are interrelated." Solving the crises will require people to work together and take responsibility for their individual actions. Specifically, a solution will require "a lifestyle marked by sobriety and solidarity, with new rules and forms of engagement, one which focuses confidently and courageously on strategies that actually work, while decisively rejecting those that have failed." Christians believe the entire cosmos was created by God, who drew harmony out of chaos, the pope said. Human sin, Adam and Eve's desire to take the place of God and their refusal to recognize that they, too, were his creatures, disrupted that harmony.Reaffirming an exhortation he had made on previous occasions, the Pope said that it is "more and more evident" that the degradation of the environment requires a re-examination of lifestyle. He said the "prevailing models of consumption and production" are often "unsustainable from a social, environmental and even economic point of view." And, the Holy Father asserted, the protection and care of the environment is everyone's responsibility and one that "knows no boundaries." Further, "In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity it is important for everyone to be committed at his or her proper level, working to overcome the prevalence of particular interests. The Holy Father did, however, raise a word of caution about "absolutizing nature." While affirming the Church's "responsibility toward creation," he called for an "authentic 'human ecology.'" He said that "a correct understanding of the relationship between man and the environment will not end by absolutizing nature or by considering it more important than the human person." "If the Church's magisterium expresses grave misgivings about notions of the environment inspired by eco-centrism and bio-centrism, it is because such notions eliminate the difference of identity and worth between the human person and other living things," the Pontiff said. "In the name of a supposedly egalitarian vision of the 'dignity' of all living creatures, such notions end up abolishing the distinctiveness and superior role of human beings." This leads to a "new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism," the Pope cautioned, "which would see the source of man's salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms."
Pope Benedict XVI observed that the "quest for peace by people of good will surely would become easier if all acknowledge the indivisible relationship between God, human beings and the whole of creation." He said that Christians have their own contribution to make in this endeavour, as they "contemplate the cosmos and its marvels in light of the creative work of the Father and the redemptive work of Christ." He highlighted the urgent need for an inter-generational solidarity, “a responsibility that present generations have towards those of the future,” as well as “in relationships between developing countries and highly industrialized countries.” The pope ended his message with a plea to "all believers to raise a fervent prayer to God, the all-powerful creator and the father of mercies, so that all men and women may take to heart the urgent appeal: If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation." It is an urgent challenge, one to be faced with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a providential opportunity to hand down to coming generations the prospect of a better future for all.







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