(Vatican Radio) In the final part of his speech to the diplomatic corps on Monday
13th January, Pope Francis quoted from the encyclical letter of Pope
Paul VI ‘Populorum Progressio’, of the 26th March 1967. Speaking in Italian
Pope Francis said: “Pope Paul VI noted that peace: 'is not simply the absence
of warfare, based on a precarious balance of power; it is fashioned by efforts directed
day after day towards the establishment of an order willed by God, with a more perfect
justice among men and women'." It’s a quote Pope Francis had already highlighted
in his encyclical letter ‘Evangelii Gaudium’, adding: “ In the end, a peace which
is not the result of integral development will be doomed; it will always spawn new
conflicts and various forms of violence”. But perhaps the most well – known
words relating to Paul VI and peace were those he pronounced in French at the United
Nations headquarters in New York on October 4th 1965 when he made an impassioned plea
for peace. The late Cardinal John Patrick Foley was present as young journalist on
this occasion. He once shared with Veronica Scarisbrick his impressions of that historic
occasion. Listen to this interview and to the voice of Paul VI in a Vatican Radio
archive recording making this appeal. A programme presented and produced by Veronica
Scarisbrick :