MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE
XLIX WORLD DAY OF PEACE
POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE
XLIX WORLD DAY OF PEACE
1 JANUARY 2016
Overcome Indifference and Win Peace
1. God is not
indifferent! God cares about mankind! God does not abandon us! At the
beginning of the New Year, I would like to share not only this profound
conviction but also my cordial good wishes for prosperity, peace and the
fulfilment of the hopes of every man and every woman, every family, people and
nation throughout the world, including all Heads of State and Government and
all religious leaders. We continue to trust that 2016 will see us all firmly
and confidently engaged, on different levels, in the pursuit of justice and
peace. Peace is both God’s gift and a human achievement. As a gift of God, it
is entrusted to all men and women, who are called to attain it.
Maintaining our reasons
for hope
2. Sadly, war and
terrorism, accompanied by kidnapping, ethnic or religious persecution and the
misuse of power, marked the past year from start to finish. In many parts of
the world, these have became so common as to constitute a real “third world war
fought piecemeal”. Yet some events of the year now ending inspire me, in
looking ahead to the new year, to encourage everyone not to lose hope in our
human ability to conquer evil and to combat resignation and indifference. They
demonstrate our capacity to show solidarity and to rise above self-interest,
apathy and indifference in the face of critical situations.
Here I would mention the
efforts to bring world leaders together at COP21 in the search for new ways to
confront climate change and to protect the earth, our common home. We can also
think of two earlier global events: the Addis Ababa Summit for funding
sustainable development worldwide and the adoption of the United Nations 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at ensuring a more dignified standard
of living for all the world’s peoples, especially the poor, by that year.
For the Church, 2015 was
a special year, since it marked the fiftieth anniversary of two documents of
the Second Vatican Council which eloquently expressed her sense of solidarity
with the world. Pope John XXIII, at the beginning of the Council, wanted to
open wide the windows of the Church and to improve her communication with the
world. The two documents, Nostra Aetate andGaudium et Spes, are emblematic of the new
relationship of dialogue, solidarity and accompaniment which the Church sought
to awaken within the human family. In the Declaration Nostra Aetate, the Church expressed her
openness to dialogue with non-Christian religions. In the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, based on a recognition that
“the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially
of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and
anguish of the followers of Christ as well”,[1] the
Church proposed to enter into dialogue with the entire human family about the
problems of our world, as a sign of solidarity, respect and affection.[2]
Along these same lines,
with the present Jubilee of Mercy I want to invite the Church to pray and work
so that every Christian will have a humble and compassionate heart, one capable
of proclaiming and witnessing to mercy. It is my hope that all of us will learn
to “forgive and give”, to become more open “to those living on the outermost
fringes of society - fringes which modern society itself creates”, and to
refuse to fall into “a humiliating indifference or a monotonous routine which
prevents us from discovering what is new! Let us ward off destructive
cynicism!”[3]
There are many good reasons
to believe in mankind’s capacity to act together in solidarity and, on the
basis of our interconnection and interdependence, to demonstrate concern for
the more vulnerable of our brothers and sisters and for the protection of the
common good. This attitude of mutual responsibility is rooted in our
fundamental vocation to fraternity and a life in common. Personal dignity and
interpersonal relationships are what constitute us as human beings whom God
willed to create in his own image and likeness. As creatures endowed with
inalienable dignity, we are related to all our brothers and sisters, for whom
we are responsible and with whom we act in solidarity. Lacking this
relationship, we would be less human. We see, then, how indifference represents
a menace to the human family. As we approach a new year, I would ask everyone
to take stock of this reality, in order to overcome indifference and to win
peace.
Kinds of indifference
3. Clearly, indifference
is not something new; every period of history has known people who close their
hearts to the needs of others, who close their eyes to what is happening around
them, who turn aside to avoid encountering other people's problems. But in our
day, indifference has ceased to be a purely personal matter and has taken on
broader dimensions, producing a certain “globalization of indifference”.
The first kind of
indifference in human society is indifference to God, which then leads to
indifference to one’s neighbour and to the environment. This is one of the
grave consequences of a false humanism and practical materialism allied to
relativism and nihilism. We have come to to think that we are the source and
creator of ourselves, our lives and society. We feel self-sufficient, prepared
not only to find a substitute for God but to do completely without him. As a
consequence, we feel that we owe nothing to anyone but ourselves, and we claim
only rights.[4] Against
this erroneous understanding of the person, Pope Benedict XVI observed that
neither man himself nor human development can, on their own, answer the
question of our ultimate meaning.[5]Paul
VI likewise stated that “there is no true humanism but that which is open to
the Absolute, and is conscious of a vocation which gives human life its
authentic significance”.[6]
Indifference to our
neighbour shows itself in different ways. Some people are well-informed; they
listen to the radio, read the newspapers or watch television, but they do so
mechanically and without engagement. They are vaguely aware of the tragedies afflicting
humanity, but they have no sense of involvement or compassion. Theirs is the
attitude of those who know, but keep their gaze, their thoughts and their
actions focused on themselves. Sadly, it must be said that today’s information
explosion does not of itself lead to an increased concern for other people’s
problems, which demands openness and a sense of solidarity.[7] Indeed,
the information glut can numb people’s sensibilities and to some degree
downplay the gravity of the problems. There are those who “simply content
themselves with blaming the poor and the poor countries themselves for their
troubles; indulging in unwarranted generalizations, they claim that the
solution is an ‘education’ that would tranquilize them, making them tame and
harmless. All this becomes even more exasperating for the marginalized in the
light of the widespread and deeply rooted corruption found in many countries –
in their governments, businesses and institutions – whatever the political
ideology of their leaders.”[8]
In other cases,
indifference shows itself in lack of concern for what is happening around us,
especially if it does not touch us directly. Some people prefer not to ask questions
or seek answers; they lead lives of comfort, deaf to the cry of those who
suffer. Almost imperceptibly, we grow incapable of feeling compassion for
others and for their problems; we have no interest in caring for them, as if
their troubles were their own responsibility, and none of our business.[9] “When
we are healthy and comfortable, we forget about others (something God the
Father never does): we are unconcerned with their problems, their sufferings
and the injustices they endure… Our heart grows cold. As long as I am
relatively healthy and comfortable, I don’t think about those less well off.”[10]
Because we dwell in a
common home, we cannot help but ask ourselves about the state of its health, as
I sought to do in Laudato Si’. Water and air pollution, the
indiscriminate exploitation of forests and the destruction of the natural
environment are often the result of man’s indifference to man, since everything
is interrelated. Then too, there is the way we treat animals, which has an
effect on the way we treat other people[11],
and the cases where people freely do elsewhere what they would never dare do at
home.[12]
In these and in other
situations, indifference leads to self-absorption and a lack of commitment. It
thus contributes to the absence of peace with God, with our neighbour and with
the environment.
Peace threatened by
globalized indifference
4. Indifference towards
God transcends the purely private sphere of the individual and affects the
public and social sphere. As Benedict XVI pointed out, “the glorification of
God and human peace on earth are closely linked”.[13] Indeed,
“without openness to the transcendent, human beings easily become prey to
relativism and find it difficult to act justly and to work for peace.[14]Disregard
and the denial of God, which lead man to acknowledge no norm above himself and
himself alone, have produced untold cruelty and violence.[15]
On both the individual
and communitarian levels, indifference to one’s neighbour, born of indifference
to God, finds expression in disinterest and a lack of engagement, which only
help to prolong situations of injustice and grave social imbalance. These in
turn can lead to conflicts or, in any event, generate a climate of
dissatisfaction which risks exploding sooner or later into acts of violence and
insecurity.
Indifference and lack of
commitment constitute a grave dereliction of the duty whereby each of us must
work in accordance with our abilities and our role in society for the promotion
of the common good, and in particular for peace, which is one of mankind’s most
precious goods.[16]
On the institutional
level, indifference to others and to their dignity, their fundamental rights
and their freedom, when it is part of a culture shaped by the pursuit of profit
and hedonism, can foster and even justify actions and policies which ultimately
represent threats to peace. Indifference can even lead to justifying deplorable
economic policies which breed injustice, division and violence for the sake of
ensuring the wellbeing of individuals or nations. Not infrequently, economic
and political projects aim at securing or maintaining power and wealth, even at
the cost of trampling on the basic rights and needs of others. When people
witness the denial of their elementary rights, such as the right to food,
water, health care or employment, they are tempted to obtain them by force.[17]
Moreover, indifference
to the natural environment, by countenancing deforestation, pollution and
natural catastrophes which uproot entire communities from their ecosystem and
create profound insecurity, ends up creating new forms of poverty and new
situations of injustice, often with dire consequences for security and peace.
How many wars have been fought, and how many will continue to be fought, over a
shortage of goods or out of an insatiable thirst for natural resources?[18]
From indifference to
mercy: the conversion of hearts
5. One year ago, in my
Message for the 2015 World Day of Peace, with the motto “No Longer Slaves, but
Brothers and Sisters”, I evoked the first biblical icon of human brotherhood,
that of Cain and Abel (cf. Gen 4:1-16). I meant to draw
attract attention to how from the very beginning this original brotherhood was
betrayed. Cain and Abel were brothers. Both came forth from the same womb, they
were equal in dignity and created in the image and likeness of God; but their
relationship as brothers was destroyed. “It was not only that Cain could not
stand Abel; he killed him out of envy.”[19] Fratricide
was the form of betrayal, and Cain’s refusal to acknowledge Abel as his brother
became the first rupture in the family relations of fraternity, solidarity and
mutual respect.
God then intervened to
remind man of his responsibility towards his fellows, as he had also done when
Adam and Eve, our first parents, ruptured their relationship with him, their
Creator. “Then the Lord said to Cain: “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I
do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” But the Lord replied: “What you have
you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground” (Gen 4:9-10).
Cain said he did not
know what had happened to his brother, that he was not his brother’s keeper. He
did not feel responsible for his life, for his fate. He did not feel involved.
He was indifferent to his brother, despite their common origin. How sad! What a
sorry tale of brothers, of families, of human beings! This was the first
display of indifference between brothers. God, however, is not indifferent.
Abel’s blood had immense value in his eyes, and he asked Cain to give an
account of it. At the origin of the human race, God shows himself to be
involved in man’s destiny. Later, when the children of Israel were slaves in
Egypt, God once more intervened to tell Moses: “I have seen the affliction of
my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters;
I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand
of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad
land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex 3:7-8). We should
note the verbs which describe God’s intervention: he sees, hears, knows, comes
down and delivers. God does not remain indifferent. He is attentive and he
acts.
In the same way, in
Jesus his Son, God has come down among us. He took flesh and showed his
solidarity with humanity in all things but sin. Jesus identified with us: he
became “the first-born among many brethren” (Rom 8:29). He was not
content merely to teach the crowds, but he was concerned for their welfare,
especially when he saw them hungry (cf. Mk 6:34-44) or without
work (cf. Mt 20:3). He was concerned not only for men and
women, but also for the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, plants and
trees, all things great and small. He saw and embraced all of creation. But he
did more than just see; he touched people’s lives, he spoke to them, helped
them and showed kindness to those in need. Not only this, but he felt strong
emotions and he wept (cf. Jn 11:33-44). And he worked to put
an end to suffering, sorrow, misery and death.
Jesus taught us to be
merciful like our heavenly Father (cf. Lk 6:36). In the
parable of the Good Samaritan (cf. Lk 10:29-37), he condemned
those who fail to help others in need, those who “pass by on the other side”
(cf. Lk 10:31-32). By this example, he taught his listeners,
and his disciples in particular, to stop and to help alleviate the sufferings
of this world and the pain of our brothers and sisters, using whatever means
are at hand, beginning with our own time, however busy we may be. Indifference
often seeks excuses: observing ritual prescriptions, looking to all the things
needing to be done, hiding behind hostilities and prejudices which keep us
apart.
Mercy is the heart of
God. It must also be the heart of the members of the one great family of his
children: a heart which beats all the more strongly wherever human dignity – as
a reflection of the face of God in his creatures – is in play. Jesus tells us
that love for others – foreigners, the sick, prisoners, the homeless, even our
enemies – is the yardstick by which God will judge our actions. Our eternal
destiny depends on this. It is not surprising that the Apostle Paul tells the
Christians of Rome to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who
weep (cf. Rom 12:15), or that he encourages the Corinthians to
take up collections as a sign of solidarity with the suffering members of the
Church (cf. 1 Cor 16:2-3). And Saint John writes: “If any one
has the world’s goods and sees his brother or sister in need, yet refuses help,
how does God’s love abide in him? (1 Jn 3:17; cf. Jas 2:15-16).
This then is why “it is
absolutely essential for the Church and for the credibility of her message that
she herself live and testify to mercy. Her language and her gestures must
transmit mercy, so as to touch the hearts of all people and inspire them once
more to find the road that leads to the Father. The Church’s first truth is the
love of Christ. The Church makes herself a servant of this love and mediates it
to all people: a love that forgives and expresses itself in the gift of
oneself. Consequently, wherever the Church is present, the mercy of the Father
must be evident. In our parishes, communities, associations and movements, in a
word, wherever there are Christians, everyone should find an oasis of mercy.”[20]
We too, then, are called
to make compassion, love, mercy and solidarity a true way of life, a rule of
conduct in our relationships with one another.[21] This
requires the conversion of our hearts: the grace of God has to turn our hearts
of stone into hearts of flesh (cf. Ezek 36:26), open to others
in authentic solidarity. For solidarity is much more than a “feeling of vague
compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near
and far”.[22] Solidarity
is “a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good;
that is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all
really responsible for all”,[23] because
compassion flows from fraternity.
Understood in this way,
solidarity represents the moral and social attitude which best corresponds to
an awareness of the scourges of our own day, and to the growing
interdependence, especially in a globalized world, between the lives of given
individuals and communities and those of other men and women in the rest of the
world.[24]
Building a culture of
solidarity and mercy to overcome indifference
6. Solidarity, as a moral
virtue and social attitude born of personal conversion, calls for commitment on
the part of those responsible for education and formation.
I think first of
families, which are called to a primary and vital mission of education.
Families are the first place where the values of love and fraternity,
togetherness and sharing, concern and care for others are lived out and handed
on. They are also the privileged milieu for transmitting the faith, beginning
with those first simple gestures of devotion which mothers teach their
children.[25]
Teachers, who have the
challenging task of training children and youth in schools or other settings,
should be conscious that their responsibility extends also to the moral,
spiritual and social aspects of life. The values of freedom, mutual respect and
solidarity can be handed on from a tender age. Speaking to educators, Pope
Benedict XVI noted that: “Every educational setting can be a place of openness
to the transcendent and to others; a place of dialogue, cohesiveness and
attentive listening, where young people feel appreciated for their personal abilities
and inner riches, and can learn to esteem their brothers and sisters. May young
people be taught to savour the joy which comes from the daily exercise of
charity and compassion towards others and from taking an active part in the
building of a more humane and fraternal society”.[26]
Communicators also have
a responsibility for education and formation, especially nowadays, when the
means of information and communication are so widespread. Their duty is first
and foremost to serve the truth, and not particular interests. For the media
“not only inform but also form the minds of their audiences, and so they can
make a significant contribution to the education of young people. It is
important never to forget that the connection between education and
communication is extremely close: education takes place through communication,
which influences, for better or worse, the formation of the person.”[27]
Communicators should
also be mindful that the way in which information is obtained and made public
should always be legally and morally admissible.
Peace: the fruit of a
culture of solidarity, mercy and compassion
7. While conscious of
the threat posed by a globalization of indifference, we should also recognize
that, in the scenario I have just described, there are also many positive
initiatives which testify to the compassion, mercy and solidarity of which we
are capable.
Here I would offer some
examples of praiseworthy commitment, which demonstrate how all of us can
overcome indifference in choosing not to close our eyes to our neighbour. These
represent good practices on the way to a more humane society.
There are many
non-governmental and charitable organizations, both within and outside the
Church, whose members, amidst epidemics, disasters and armed conflicts, brave
difficulties and dangers in caring for the injured and sick, and in burying the
dead. I would also mention those individuals and associations which assist
migrants who cross deserts and seas in search of a better life. These efforts
are spiritual and corporal works of mercy on which we will be judged at the end
of our lives.
I think also of the
journalists and photographers who shape public opinion on difficult situations
which trouble our consciences, and all those devoted to the defence of human
rights, especially the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, indigenous peoples,
women and children, and the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters. Among
them are also many priests and missionaries who, as good pastors, remain at the
side of their flock and support them, heedless of danger and hardship,
especially during armed conflicts.
How many families, amid
occupational and social difficulties, make great sacrifices to provide their
children with a “counter-cultural” education in the values of solidarity,
compassion and fraternity! How many families open their hearts and homes to
those in need, such as refugees and migrants! I wish to thank in a particular
way all those individuals, families, parishes, religious communities,
monasteries and shrines who readily responded to my appeal to welcome a refugee
family.[28]
Finally, I would mention
those young people who join in undertaking works of solidarity, and all those
who generously help their neighbours in need in their cities and countries and
elsewhere in the world. I thank and encourage everyone engaged in such efforts,
which often pass unobserved. Their hunger and thirst for justice will be
satisfied, their mercy will lead them to find mercy and, as peacemakers, they
will be called children of God (cf. Mt 5:6-9).
Peace in the sign of the
Jubilee of Mercy
8. In the spirit of the
Jubilee of Mercy, all of us are called to realize how indifference can manifest
itself in our lives and to work concretely to improve the world around us,
beginning with our families, neighbours and places of employment.
Civil society is
likewise called to make specific and courageous gestures of concern for their
most vulnerable members, such as prisoners, migrants, the unemployed and the
infirm.
With regard to
prisoners, it would appear that in many cases practical measures are urgently
needed to improve their living conditions, with particular concern for those
detained while awaiting trial.[29] It
must be kept in mind that penal sanctions have the aim of rehabilitation, while
national laws should consider the possibility of other establishing penalties
than incarceration. In this context, I would like once more to appeal to
governmental authorities to abolish the death penalty where it is still in
force, and to consider the possibility of an amnesty.
With regard to migrants,
I would ask that legislation on migration be reviewed, so, while respecting
reciprocal rights and responsibilities, it can reflect a readiness to welcome
migrants and to facilitate their integration. Special concern should be paid to
the conditions for legal residency, since having to live clandestinely can lead
to criminal behaviour.
In this Jubilee Year, I
would also appeal to national leaders for concrete gestures in favour of our
brothers and sisters who suffer from the lack of labour, land and
lodging. I am thinking of the creation of dignified jobs to combat the
social plague of unemployment, which affects many families and young people,
with grave effects for society as a whole. Unemployment takes a heavy toll on
people’s sense of dignity and hope, and can only be partially compensated for
by welfare benefits, however necessary these may be, provided to the unemployed
and their families. Special attention needs to be given to women – who
unfortunately still encounter discrimination in the workplace – and to some
categories of workers whose conditions are precarious or dangerous, and whose
pay is not commensurate to the importance of their social mission.
Finally, I express my
hope that effective steps will be taken to improve the living conditions of the
sick by ensuring that all have access to medical treatment and pharmaceuticals
essential for life, as well as the possibility of home care.
Looking beyond their own
borders, national leaders are also called to renew their relations with other
peoples and to enable their real participation and inclusion in the life of the
international community, in order to ensure fraternity within the family of
nations as well.
With this in mind, I
would like to make a threefold appeal to the leaders of nations: to refrain
from drawing other peoples into conflicts or wars which destroy not only their
material, cultural and social legacy, but also – and in the long term – their
moral and spiritual integrity; to forgive or manage in a sustainable way the
international debt of the poorer nations; and to adopt policies of cooperation
which, instead of bowing before the dictatorship of certain ideologies, will
respect the values of local populations and, in any case, not prove detrimental
to the fundamental and inalienable right to life of the unborn.
I entrust these
reflections, together with my best wishes for the New Year, to the intercession
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother, who cares for the needs of our human
family, that she may obtain from her Son Jesus, the Prince of Peace, the
granting of our prayers and the blessing of our daily efforts for a fraternal
and united world.
From the Vatican, 8
December 2015
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Opening of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Opening of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy
[7] “As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us
neighbours but does not make us brothers. Reason, by itself, is capable of
grasping the equality between men and of giving stability to their civic
coexistence, but it cannot establish fraternity” (BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical
Letter Caritas in Veritate, 19).
[15] Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Intervention during the Day of Reflection, Dialogue and
Prayer for Peace and Justice in the World, Assisi, 27 October
2011.
[17] “Until exclusion and inequality in society and between
peoples are reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence. The poor and
the poor peoples are accused of violence, yet without equal opportunities the
different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for
growth and eventually explode. When a society – whether local, national or
global – is willing to leave a part of itself on the fringes, no political
programmes or resources spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems can
indefinitely guarantee tranquility. This is not the case simply because inequality
provokes a violent reaction from those excluded from the system, but because
the socioeconomic system is unjust at its root. Just as goodness tends to
spread, the toleration of evil, which is injustice, tends to expand its baneful
influence and quietly to undermine any political and social system, no matter
how solid it may appear” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 59),
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