2009-01-08 14:46:34

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.













All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©.