"Educating young people in Justice and Peace"

The energy and vitality of young people are a key to the challenge of promoting justice and peace in our increasingly uncertain world. That's the theme of Pope Benedict's message for the 2012 World Peace Day, celebrated each year by the Church on January 1st. Entitled “Educating young people in Justice and Peace”, the message is addressed to parents, educators and political leaders, as well as to young people themselves and outlines a holistic vision of education as the life long pursuit of truth and freedom. But it also contains a call to action to hear the anxieties of young men and women today and respond to them with generosity, providing practical support for families, greater civic participation and employment opportunities.
Noting the rising sense of frustration within many societies at the growing economic crisis, the Pope says young people, with their enthusiasm and idealism can offer new hope to our world. It is essential, he says, that their idealism, as well as their anxieties, receive due attention at every level of society.
The World Peace Day document is published each year by the Pontifical Justice and Peace Council. Philippa Hitchen spoke to the president of the Council, Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana, and to Damian Boeselager, a young German student doing an internship at that same Pontifical Council....

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