Pope Francis' World Peace Day Message for January 1st, 2014 was officially presented
at a news conference in the Vatican on Thursday. Those addressing the news conference
were Bishop Mario Toso, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
and Dr Vittorio Alberti, an official of the Curia. The Director of the Holy See Press
Office, Father Federico Lombardi, read out the remarks of Cardinal Peter Turkson,
the President of the Pontficial Council for Justice and Peace, who could not be there.
Please find below an English translation of the speech by Cardinal Turkson:
It
is a great pleasure for me to present the first Message of Pope Francis for the celebration of
the World Day of Peace, 1 January 2014. The Holy Father’s Message reflects on the
theme of fraternity as the foundation of peace and as the pathway to peace. In
my brief presentation, let me begin with some biblical reflections on fraternity,
and then review the main points of the Message.
Fraternity according
to the Bible
Fraternity is an essential human quality, for we are relational
beings. But that does not make fraternity automatic. In our time, as Pope emeritus
Benedict XVI pointed out, globalization makes us neighbours but it does not make
us brothers. Fraternity is ignored or trampled upon in countless ways throughout
history and even today, as the New Year’s Message makes very clear.
In the
beginning, the Book of Genesis tells us, Adam and Eve had two sons. Cain and Abel were
brothers; the Greek word, adelphos, means “to come from the same womb”. But the fact of
being born siblings did not automatically make them fraternal.
The first sin,
the original sin, according to Genesis, was Adam and Eve’s disobedience. They sinned
by violating their relationship with God their Creator when they tried to place themselves above
God.The second sin was Cain’s violation of his relationship with Abel. Out of jealousy, he
murdered his brother. The first crime, therefore, was fratricide. Every taking of
an innocent life – whether it is called abortion, murder, or euthanasia –whether
it is called crime or starvation or war – is, in fact, fratricide, is it not? How
can we fail to recognize that we are brothers and sisters, since we all have the
same Father? How can we fail to recognize that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is
our brother? By his Cross and Resurrection, he repaired a broken humanity and continually
offers everyone the promise of salvation!
Male and female God created us, brother
and sister he called us to be. Fraternity – treating each other as the brothers
and sisters that we are– is our true vocation. We are free to embrace it or reject
it. God our Creator has freely made human beings equal in dignity, but not the same. Each
one of us is fully loved, not more or less but infinitely, fully, uniquely, and unconditionally. Yet
the evil one seduces us into comparing ourselves with each other! When Cain realized that
God had shown favour to Abel, his disappointment fixated on his younger brother, whom he
imagined to be his competitor. Instead of keeping his heart open to God’s love and
thanking him for the abundant harvest,Cain unleashed murderous anger against his
brother, who, in fact, was totally innocent.
In this Message, the Holy Father
asks why there in such a deficit of fraternity in today’s world. Has selfishness
blinded us to our fundamental fraternity? Have fear and competitiveness poisoned
our incomparable dignity as sons and daughters of God, thus brothers and sisters to each
other?
Fraternity according to the Message
Allow me now
to highlight some key points of the Message for the World Day of Peace. Pope Francis
cites his recent predecessors to expand on the meaning and relevance of fraternity as
the foundation and pathway to peace.
Pope Paul VI emphasized integral development:“We
must work together to build the common future of the human race.
Blessed
John Paul II called peace an indivisible common good: either it is for all, or it
is for none. It can be truly attained only if everyone shows solidarity as “a firm
and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good”.
Pope
Benedict XVI identified fraternity as a prerequisite for fighting poverty . His encyclical Caritas
in Veritate reminds the world how the lack of fraternity between peoples and between men
and women is a significant cause of poverty. A poverty of relationships results in
many lacking the material basics for life.
Looking back over 2013, everyone
recalls the historic moment (11 February) when Benedict XVI announced his courageous
decision to step aside as Pope. This gave way to the election of Cardinal Jorge
Mario Bergoglio as Bishop of Rome and successor of Peter. From the very start, the
new Holy Father has brought great openness and creative energy to the papacy. Indeed,
he has personified the very paternity and fraternity of today’s message – paternal
and fraternal concern for one and all.
Three days after his election, Pope
Francis met with you, representatives of the media, and explained his choice of
a name:
Thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi. Then I thought
of all the wars ... Francis is also the man of peace. That is how the name
came into my heart: Francis of Assisi. For me, he is the man of poverty,
the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation…6 In his first
New Year’s message, the Holy Father elaborates on the poor, on peace, and on creation,
under the inclusive and meaningful heading of fraternity.
Sections 5-6
of the Message looks to the economy for real remedies to poverty. Cooperation in
pursuit of the common good must replace harmful rivalries that put everyone at risk.
Fraternal relations find expression in social policies that facilitate access;
in a more sober lifestyle limited to consuming what is essential; and, at the macro
level, in “a timely rethinking of our models of economic development”.
Sections
7-8 guide us to reduce and eliminate war of every kind, as well as corruption and organized
crime. Fraternity overcomes the indifference with which we observe the many wars at
a safe distance. It overcomes the tendency to dehumanize and demonize the enemy. It motivates
the hard work needed to accomplish non-proliferation and disarmament, including nuclear,
chemical, conventional and unmanned weapons, as well as small arms. When it comes to
social conflict, fraternity resists corruption, organized crime, and the drug trade;
slavery, human trafficking and prostitution; and those forms of economic and financial
‘warfare’ which are “destructive of lives, families and businesses”.
Section
9 considers the urgent need to preserve and cultivate nature as our earthly home and the
source of all material goods, now and for future generations. In the spirit of fraternity,
we must learn to treat the natural environment as a gift from our Creator, to be
enjoyed in common, gratefully and justly. Agriculture that produces responsibly,
and businesses that see to proper distribution and avoid waste, are necessary expressions
of fraternity in today’s world.
Receiving the Message today
A
week ago, the great Nelson Mandela closed his eyes for the last time and, as we say
in Africa, joined the ancestors. It was my privilege to represent Pope Francis
at Tuesday’s memorial in Soweto.
Through the long years of imprisonment,
Mandela overcame the temptation to seek revenge. He emerged from prison with the
supreme message of reconciliation. For this, the sad truth of the past had to be
uncovered and accepted. Only on the basis of truth and reconciliation could the
majority of South Africans aspire to a better life. No one should underestimate how
much faith, how much courage, how great a spirit, it required of Mandela to put
into practice the wisdom which he had learned in prison. By his example and leadership,
Nelson Mandela facilitated the conversion of hearts away from fratricide….
Conversion
of minds and hearts is what Pope Francis is pursuing daily. The message is simple:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you,
that you also love one another” (John 13:34). Fraternity needs to be discovered, experienced,
proclaimed and witnessed through love. Bestowed as a gift, God’s love alone enables
us to accept our fraternity and express it more and more fully.
As we prepare
to celebrate Christmas by offering gifts among friends and relations, it would be
good to pause, as Jesus suggests. If you “remember that your brother or sister has
something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be
reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew
5:23-24). Today the poor, the excluded, the suffering of our city, of our country,
of our world, do have “something against us”. What they have “against us” is our
failure to respect who, most profoundly, they are –who, most profoundly, we are
– namely, brothers and sisters.
In his first World Day of Peace Message, Pope
Francis invites us to reflect, to pray, and to act accordingly. Offences against
fraternity make a long, sad, shameful catalogue, as we have seen. After each fratricidal
crime, God calls out: “Where is your brother, where is your sister?” The selfish
sinful heart snaps back, “Am I their keeper?” The fraternal heart responds gratefully: “Thank
you, Father, for making me the keeper of my brothers and sisters! And thank you, too, for
making them my keeper!”