(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict XVI’s Message for World Day of Peace 2013 was presented
to the public Friday morning at the Vatican. The World Day of Peace is marked each
January 1st. This year’s Message is titled “Blessed are the Peacemakers”.
Below
please find the full text of Pope Benedict XVI’s Message for World Day of Peace
BLESSED
ARE THE PEACEMAKERS 1. EACH NEW YEAR brings the expectation of a better world.
In light of this, I ask God, the Father of humanity, to grant us concord and peace,
so that the aspirations of all for a happy and prosperous life may be achieved. Fifty
years after the beginning of the , which helped to strengthen the Church’s mission
in the world, it is heartening to realize that Christians, as the People of God in
fellowship with him and sojourning among mankind, are committed within history to
sharing humanity’s joys and hopes, grief and anguish, as they proclaim the salvation
of Christ and promote peace for all. In effect, our times, marked by globalization
with its positive and negative aspects, as well as the continuation of violent conflicts
and threats of war, demand a new, shared commitment in pursuit of the common good
and the development of all men, and of the whole man. It is alarming to see 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.
In every person the desire for peace is an essential aspiration which coincides in
a certain way with the desire for a full, happy and successful human life. In other
words, the desire for peace corresponds to a fundamental moral principle, namely,
the duty and right to an integral social and communitarian development, which is part
of God’s plan for mankind. Man is made for the peace which is God’s gift. All
of this led me to draw inspiration for this Message from the words of Jesus Christ:
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Mt 5:9).
Gospel beatitude 2. The beatitudes which Jesus proclaimed (cf.
Mt 5:3-12 and Lk 6:20-23) are promises. In the biblical tradition, the
beatitude is a literary genre which always involves some good news, a “gospel”, which
culminates in a promise. Therefore, the beatitudes are not only moral exhortations
whose observance foresees in due time – ordinarily in the next life – a reward or
a situation of future happiness. Rather, the blessedness of which the beatitudes speak
consists in the fulfilment of a promise made to all those who allow themselves to
be guided by the requirements of truth, justice and love. In the eyes of the world,
those who trust in God and his promises often appear naïve or far from reality. Yet
Jesus tells them that not only in the next life, but already in this life, they will
discover that they are children of God, and that God has always been, and ever will
be, completely on their side. They will understand that they are not alone, because
he is on the side of those committed to truth, justice and love. Jesus, the revelation
of the Father’s love, does not hesitate to offer himself in self-sacrifice. Once we
accept Jesus Christ, God and man, we have the joyful experience of an immense gift:
the sharing of God’s own life, the life of grace, the pledge of a fully blessed existence.
Jesus Christ, in particular, grants us true peace, which is born of the trusting encounter
of man with God. Jesus’ beatitude tells us that peace is both a messianic gift
and the fruit of human effort. In effect, peace presupposes a humanism open to transcendence.
It is the fruit of the reciprocal gift, of a mutual enrichment, thanks to the gift
which has its source in God and enables us to live with others and for others. The
ethics of peace is an ethics of fellowship and sharing. It is indispensable, then,
that the various cultures in our day overcome forms of anthropology and ethics based
on technical and practical suppositions which are merely subjectivistic and pragmatic,
in virtue of which relationships of coexistence are inspired by criteria of power
or profit, means become ends and vice versa, and culture and education are centred
on instruments, technique and efficiency alone. The precondition for peace is the
dismantling of the dictatorship of relativism and of the supposition of a completely
autonomous morality which precludes acknowledgment of the ineluctable natural moral
law inscribed by God upon the conscience of every man and woman. Peace is the building
up of coexistence in rational and moral terms, based on a foundation whose measure
is not created by man, but rather by God. As Psalm 29 puts it: “May the Lord give
strength to his people; may the Lord bless his people with peace” (v. 11). Peace:
God’s gift and the fruit of human effort 3. Peace 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. Above all, as Blessed wrote in his Encyclical
, whose fiftieth anniversary will fall in a few months, it entails the building up
of a coexistence based on truth, freedom, love and justice. The denial of what makes
up the true nature of human beings in its essential dimensions, its intrinsic capacity
to know the true and the good and, ultimately, to know God himself, jeopardizes peacemaking.
Without the truth about man inscribed by the Creator in the human heart, freedom and
love become debased, and justice loses the ground of its exercise. To become authentic
peacemakers, it is fundamental to keep in mind our transcendent dimension and to enter
into constant dialogue with God, the Father of mercy, whereby we implore the redemption
achieved for us by his only-begotten Son. In this way mankind can overcome that progressive
dimming and rejection of peace which is sin in all its forms: selfishness and violence,
greed and the will to power and dominion, intolerance, hatred and unjust structures.
The attainment of peace depends above all on recognizing that we are, in God,
one human family. This family is structured, as the Encyclical 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. Peace
is an order enlivened and integrated by love, in such a way that we feel the needs
of others as our own, share our goods with others and work throughout the world for
greater communion in spiritual values. It is an order achieved in freedom, that is,
in a way consistent with the dignity of persons who, by their very nature as rational
beings, take responsibility for their own actions. Peace is not a dream or something
utopian; it is possible. Our gaze needs to go deeper, beneath superficial appearances
and phenomena, to discern a positive reality which exists in human hearts, since every
man and woman has been created in the image of God and is called to grow and contribute
to the building of a new world. God himself, through the incarnation of his Son and
his work of redemption, has entered into history and has brought about a new creation
and a new covenant between God and man (cf. Jer 31:31-34), thus enabling us
to have a “new heart” and a “new spirit” (cf. Ez 36:26). For this very
reason the Church is convinced of the urgency of a new proclamation of Jesus Christ,
the first and fundamental factor of the integral development of peoples and also of
peace. Jesus is indeed our peace, our justice and our reconciliation (cf. Eph 2:14;
2 Cor 5:18). The peacemaker, according to Jesus’ beatitude, is the one who
seeks the good of the other, the fullness of good in body and soul, today and tomorrow.
From this teaching one can infer that each person and every community, whether
religious, civil, educational or cultural, is called to work for peace. Peace is principally
the attainment of the common good in society at its different levels, primary and
intermediary, national, international and global. Precisely for this reason it can
be said that the paths which lead to the attainment of the common good are also the
paths that must be followed in the pursuit of peace. Peacemakers are those
who love, defend and promotelife in its fullness 4. The
path to the attainment of the common good and to peace is above all that of respect
for human life in all its many aspects, beginning with its conception, through its
development and up to its natural end. True peacemakers, then, are those who love,
defend and promote human life in all its dimensions, personal, communitarian and transcendent.
Life in its fullness is the height of peace. Anyone who loves peace cannot tolerate
attacks and crimes against life. Those who insufficiently value human life and,
in consequence, support among other things the liberalization of abortion, perhaps
do not realize that in this way they are proposing the pursuit of a false peace. The
flight from responsibility, which degrades human persons, and even more so the killing
of a defenceless and innocent being, will never be able to produce happiness or peace.
Indeed how could one claim to bring about peace, the integral development of peoples
or even the protection of the environment without defending the life of those who
are weakest, beginning with the unborn. Every offence against life, especially at
its beginning, inevitably causes irreparable damage to development, peace and the
environment. Neither is it just to introduce surreptitiously into legislation false
rights or freedoms which, on the basis of a reductive and relativistic view of human
beings and the clever use of ambiguous expressions aimed at promoting a supposed right
to abortion and euthanasia, pose a threat to the fundamental right to life. There
is also a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the
union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent
to radically different types of union; such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize
marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society. These
principles are not truths of faith, nor are they simply a corollary of the right to
religious freedom. They are inscribed in human nature itself, accessible to reason
and thus common to all humanity. The Church’s efforts to promote them are not therefore
confessional in character, but addressed to all people, whatever their religious affiliation.
Efforts of this kind are all the more necessary the more these principles are denied
or misunderstood, since this constitutes an offence against the truth of the human
person, with serious harm to justice and peace. Consequently, another important
way of helping to build peace is for legal systems and the administration of justice
to recognize the right to invoke the principle of conscientious objection in the face
of laws or government measures that offend against human dignity, such as abortion
and euthanasia. 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 freedomfor – 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. Peacemakers must also bear in mind that, in growing sectors
of public opinion, the ideologies of radical liberalism and technocracy are spreading
the conviction that economic growth should be pursued even to the detriment of the
state’s social responsibilities and civil society’s networks of solidarity, together
with social rights and duties. It should be remembered that these rights and duties
are fundamental for the full realization of other rights and duties, starting with
those which are civil and political. 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.
In this regard, I would reaffirm that human dignity and economic, social and political
factors, demand that we continue “to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment
for everyone.” If this ambitious goal is to be realized, one prior condition is 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. Corresponding to this good are a duty and a right that demand courageous
new policies of universal employment. Building the good of peace through
a new model ofdevelopment and economics 5. In many quarters
it is now recognized that a new model of development is needed, as well as a new approach
to the economy. Both integral, sustainable development in solidarity and the common
good require a correct scale of goods and values which can be structured with God
as the ultimate point of reference. It is not enough to have many different means
and choices at one’s disposal, however good these may be. Both the wide variety of
goods fostering development and the presence of a wide range of choices must be employed
against the horizon of a good life, an upright conduct that acknowledges the primacy
of the spiritual and the call to work for the common good. Otherwise they lose their
real value, and end up becoming new idols. In order to emerge from the present
financial and economic crisis – which has engendered ever greater inequalities – we
need people, groups and institutions which will promote life by fostering human creativity,
in order to draw from the crisis itself an opportunity for discernment and for a new
economic model. The predominant model of recent decades 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. Concretely,
in economic activity, peacemakers are those who establish bonds of fairness and reciprocity
with their colleagues, workers, clients and consumers. They engage in economic activity
for the sake of the common good and they experience this commitment as something transcending
their self-interest, for the benefit of present and future generations. Thus they
work not only for themselves, but also to ensure for others a future and a dignified
employment. In the economic sector, states in particular need to articulate policies
of industrial and agricultural development concerned with social progress and the
growth everywhere of constitutional and democratic states. The creation of ethical
structures for currency, financial and commercial markets is also fundamental and
indispensable; these must be stabilized and better coordinated and controlled so as
not to prove harmful to the very poor. With greater resolve than has hitherto been
the case, the concern of peacemakers must also focus upon the food crisis, which is
graver than the financial crisis. The issue of food security is once more central
to the international political agenda, as a result of interrelated crises, including
sudden shifts in the price of basic foodstuffs, irresponsible behaviour by some economic
actors and insufficient control on the part of governments and the international community.
To face this crisis, peacemakers are called to work together in a spirit of solidarity,
from the local to the international level, with the aim of enabling farmers, especially
in small rural holdings, to carry out their activity in a dignified and sustainable
way from the social, environmental and economic points of view. Education
for a culture of peace: the role of the familyand institutions 6. I wish to reaffirm forcefully that the various peacemakers are called to cultivate
a passion for the common good of the family and for social justice, and a commitment
to effective social education. No one should ignore or underestimate the decisive
role of the family, which is the basic cell of society from the demographic, ethical,
pedagogical, economic and political standpoints. The family has a natural vocation
to promote life: it accompanies individuals as they mature and it encourages mutual
growth and enrichment through caring and sharing. The Christian family in particular
serves as a seedbed for personal maturation according to the standards of divine love.
The family is one of the indispensable social subjects for the achievement of a culture
of peace. The rights of parents and their primary role in the education of their children
in the area of morality and religion must be safeguarded. It is in the family that
peacemakers, tomorrow’s promoters of a culture of life and love, are born and nurtured.
Religious communities are involved in a special way in this immense task of education
for peace. The Church believes that she shares in this great responsibility as part
of the new evangelization, which is centred on conversion to the truth and love of
Christ and, consequently, the spiritual and moral rebirth of individuals and societies.
Encountering Jesus Christ shapes peacemakers, committing them to fellowship and to
overcoming injustice. Cultural institutions, schools and universities have a special
mission of peace. They are called to make a notable contribution not only to the formation
of new generations of leaders, but also to the renewal of public institutions, both
national and international. They can also contribute to a scientific reflection which
will ground economic and financial activities on a solid anthropological and ethical
basis. Today’s world, especially the world of politics, needs to be sustained by fresh
thinking and a new cultural synthesis so as to overcome purely technical approaches
and to harmonize the various political currents with a view to the common good. The
latter, seen as an ensemble of positive interpersonal and institutional relationships
at the service of the integral growth of individuals and groups, is at the basis of
all true education for peace. A pedagogy for peacemakers 7.
In the end, we see clearly the need to propose and promote a pedagogy of peace. This
calls for a rich interior life, clear and valid moral points of reference, and appropriate
attitudes and lifestyles. Acts of peacemaking converge for the achievement of the
common good; they create interest in peace and cultivate peace. Thoughts, words and
gestures of peace create a mentality and a culture of peace, and a respectful, honest
and cordial atmosphere. There is a need, then, to teach people to love one another,
to cultivate peace and to live with good will rather than mere tolerance. A fundamental
encouragement to this is “to say no to revenge, to recognize injustices, to accept
apologies without looking for them, and finally, to forgive”, in such a way that mistakes
and offences can be acknowledged in truth, so as to move forward together towards
reconciliation. This requires the growth of a pedagogy of pardon. Evil is in fact
overcome by good, and justice is to be sought in imitating God the Father who loves
all his children (cf. Mt 5:21-48). This is a slow process, for it presupposes
a spiritual evolution, an education in lofty values, a new vision of human history.
There is a need to 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. Here I would recall the prayer asking
God to make us instruments of his peace, to be able to bring his love wherever there
is hatred, his mercy wherever there is hurt, and true faith wherever there is doubt.
For our part, let us join Blessed in asking God to enlighten all leaders so that,
besides caring for the proper material welfare of their peoples, they may secure for
them the precious gift of peace, break down the walls which divide them, strengthen
the bonds of mutual love, grow in understanding, and pardon those who have done them
wrong; in this way, by his power and inspiration all the peoples of the earth will
experience fraternity, and the peace for which they long will ever flourish and reign
among them. With this prayer I express my hope that all will be true peacemakers,
so that the city of man may grow in fraternal harmony, prosperity and peace. From
the Vatican, 8 December 2012 BENEDICTUS PP XVI
Cf. SECOND
VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World,
, 1. Cf. Encyclical Letter (11 April 1963): AAS 55 (1963), 265-266.
Cf. ibid.: AAS 55 (1963), 266. BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter
(29 June 2009), 32: AAS 101 (2009), 666-667. Cf. ibid, 34
and 36: AAS 101 (2009), 668-670 and 671-672. Cf. JOHN PAUL II, (8
December 1993): AAS 86 (1994), 156-162. BENEDICT XVI, , Baabda-Lebanon
(15 September 2012): L’Osservatore Romano, 16 September 2012, p. 7. Cf.
Encyclical Letter (11 April 1963): AAS 55 (1963), 304.