Pope’s New Year greetings to members of Diplomatic Corps
(Jan.8,2009): The very grave attacks directed at thousands of Christians in this
past year, especially in India and Iraq, were remembered by Pope Benedict XVI in
his annual traditional greetings on Thursday to the members of the Diplomatic Corps
accredited to the Holy See. Reaffirming the lofty contribution which religions
can make to the building of peace and the struggle against poverty, the Pope assured
his paternal affection to all the victims of religious discrimination and said “I
would like to repeat in this assembly, which symbolically represents all the nations
of the world, that Christianity is a religion of freedom and peace and it stands
at the service of the true good of Humanity. “ The Pope called on all the civil
and political authorities to end intolerance and acts of harassment directed against
Christians, to repair the damage which has been done, particularly to places of worship
and properties, and encourage by every means possible - due respect to all religions.
The terrorist attacks in India, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the ongoing conflict
in Sri Lanka, and other Asian Nations and the outbreak of violence in the Holy Land
were also remembered by Pope Benedict in his annual traditional greetings. “ At
the dawn of this New Year 2009,” the Pope said “ I think with affection of all those,
who have suffered as a result of violent national or regional conflicts. Despite
so many efforts, the peace we so desire,still remains distant. However, faced with
this reality,we must never grow discouraged, or lessen our commitment to a culture
of authentic peace but rather redouble our efforts on behalf of security and development.
In this regard, the Pope added, “The Holy See wished to be among the first to sign
and ratify the “Convention on Cluster Munitions”, a document which also has the aim
of reaffirming international humanitarian law. In his discourse the Pope also remembered
those, who suffered due to grave natural catastrophes, particularly in Myanmar, China
and Vietnam. Noting also the signs of crises appearing in the areas of disarmament
and nuclear non-proliferation, the Pope said “The Holy See has continued to reaffirm
that peace cannot be built,when military expenses divert enormous human and material
resources from projects for development, especially the development of poorest peoples.
Calling attention to his message for the World Day of Peace on the theme “Fighting
poverty to build peace”, the Pope said “ People today are striving to do more, learn
more and to have more, in order to be more, and yet at the same time, so many people
continue to live in conditions which frustrate these legitimate desires. So many families
are hard pressed by the global financial and economic crises.The number of poor is
increasing even within the rich countries. To build peace, we must give new hope to
the poor, he said. Referring to his forthcoming visit to Africa, the Pope said
a particular concern must be shown for children, as 20 years after the adoption of
the Convention of the Rights of the Child, they still remain very vulnerable. In conclusion,
remembering the sick and the elderly left alone and all the broken families, the
Pope said “ If we wish to combat poverty, we must invest first and foremost in the
young, setting before them an ideal of authentic fraternity”. Finally, the Pope called
for fraternal solidarity between all men and women to fight poverty and build peace.