Pope Calls for People to Disarm their Hearts

(12 Apr 08 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI’s sent a message to the participants in an International Seminar concluding today at the Vatican on “Disarmament, Development and Peace” sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. We have this report...

In his message, the pope launched an urgent appeal that the international community take up again with courage the path to disarmament, and through a “new humanism,” construct the foundations for lasting peace and the development of all peoples.

The pope reminded participants that all people are called first and foremost to “disarm” their own hearts so as to become peacemakers.

Reaffirming that self-defence is the unalienable right of each State, he went on to say that this does not mean a right to accumulate as much arms as possible – otherwise, the State, who should be guarantor of the life and peace of its people, would paradoxically be in the position of threatening these very things.

The pope added that nations must take responsibility to make sure that more money than necessary not be spent on military costs at the cost of the well-being of the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

Although the modern situation shows that the challenges of indifference and isolationism in international relations can seem to inevitably lead to conflict, the pope reminded the participants that war is never inevitable and that peace is always a possibility.

On the eve of his trip to New York to address the United Nations, it is time, the pope said, to change the course of history, to recover a sense of trust among peoples, to promote dialogue and to foster solidarity – according to the noble ideals that inspired the foundation of the UN.

The pope continued by stressing that the great inequalities in the global economy continue to threaten global stability and peace. Nations must be willing to refocus their energies and monies on addressing the real needs of the poor, and not on military expenditure, if they want to avert the threat of war and terrorism.

What is more, the pope underlined, a decisive choice must be made by the international community in favour of peace by reorienting economic structures toward the true service of the human person and solidarity, rather than focusing solely on profit as the bottom-line.

It is only in this manner, he concluded, that future generations will experience the “right” to peace that all human persons have.