Pope Francis: speech to diplomatic corps
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis
delivered an address to the Corps of Diplomats Accredited to the Holy See on
Monday morning, during the course of his traditional exchange of New Year's
greetings with the diplomats at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. Below,
please find the full text of the official English translation of the Holy
Father's prepared remarks.
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ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE FRANCIS
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE
DIPLOMATIC CORPS
Monday, 11 January 2016
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I offer you a cordial welcome
to this annual gathering. It allows me to offer you my best wishes for
the New Year and to reflect with you on the state of our world, so loved and
blessed by God, and yet fraught with so many ills. I thank your new Dean,
His Excellency Armindo Fernandes do Espírito Santo Veira, the Ambassador of
Angola, for his kind greeting in the name of the entire Diplomatic Corps
accredited to the Holy See. In a special way, I would also like to
remember the late Ambassadors of Cuba, Rodney Alejandro López Clemente, and
Liberia, Rudolf P. von Ballmoos, both of whom left us in this past month.
This occasion also allows me
to offer a particular word of welcome to those of you who join us for the first
time. I note with satisfaction that the number of resident Ambassadors in
Rome has increased over the past year. This is an important sign of the
interest with which the international community follows the diplomatic activity
of the Holy See, as for that matter are the international agreements signed or
ratified in the course of this last year. Here I would mention the
specific fiscal agreements reached with Italy and the United States of America,
reflecting the increased commitment of the Holy See to greater transparency in
economic matters. No less important are the more general agreements aimed
at regulating essential aspects of the Church’s life and activity in different
countries, such as the agreement sealed in Dili with the Democratic Republic of
Timor-Leste.
At the same time, I would like to mention the exchange of instruments of
ratification of the agreement with Chad on the juridical status of the Catholic
Church in that country, as well as the agreement signed and ratified with
Palestine. These two agreements, together with the Memorandum of
Understanding between the Secretariat of State and the Foreign Affairs Minister
of Kuwait, demonstrate, among other things, how peaceful co-existence between
the followers of different religions is possible when religious freedom is
recognized and practical cooperation in the pursuit of the common good, in a
spirit of respect for the cultural identity of all parties, is effectively
guaranteed.
For that matter, every
authentic practice of religion cannot fail to promote peace. Our recent
celebration of Christmas reminds us of this: we contemplated the birth of a
vulnerable child who is “named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace” (cf. Is 9:5). The mystery
of the Incarnation shows us the real face of God, for whom power does not mean
force or destruction but love, and for whom justice is not vengeance but mercy.
It is in light of this that I wished to proclaim the Extraordinary
Jubilee of Mercy, exceptionally inaugurated in Bangui during my Apostolic
Journey in Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic. In a country
sorely tried by hunger, poverty and conflict, where fratricidal violence in
recent years has left deep wounds, rending the nation and creating material and
moral destitution, the opening of the Holy Door of Bangui Cathedral was meant
as a sign of encouragement to look ahead, to set out anew and resume
dialogue. There, where God’s name has been misused to perpetrate injustice,
I wanted to reaffirm, together with the Muslim community of the Central African
Republic, that “those who claim to believe in God must also be men and women of
peace”[1] and
consequently of mercy, for one may never kill in the name of God. Only a
distorted ideological form of religion can think that justice is done in the
name of the Almighty by deliberately slaughtering defenceless persons, as in
the brutal terrorist attacks which occurred in recent months in Africa, Europe
and the Middle East.
Mercy was the common thread
linking my Apostolic Journeys in the course of the past year. This was
the case above all with my visit to Sarajevo, a city deeply scarred by the war
in the Balkans and the capital of a country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is
uniquely significant for Europe and the entire world. As a crossroads of
cultures, nations and religions, it is working successfully to build new
bridges, to encourage those things which unite, and to see differences as
opportunities for growth in respect for all. This is possible thanks to a
patient and trusting dialogue capable of embracing the values of each culture
and accepting the good which comes from the experience of others.[2]
I think too of my Journey to
Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay, where I encountered peoples who have not given
up in the face of difficulties, and who are facing with courage, determination
and solidarity their many challenges, beginning with widespread poverty and
social inequality. During my Journey to Cuba and the United States of
America, I was able to embrace two countries which were long divided and which
have decided to write a new page of history, embarking on the path of closer
ties and reconciliation.
In Philadelphia for the World
Meeting of Families, during my Journey to Sri Lanka and to the Philippines, and
more recently with the Synod of Bishops, I reaffirmed the centrality of the
family, which is the first and most important school of mercy, in which we
learn to see God’s loving face and to mature and develop as human beings.
Sadly, we recognize the numerous challenges presently facing families,
“threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very
institution of marriage by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a
lack of openness to life”.[3] Today
there is a widespread fear of the definitive commitment demanded by the family;
those who pay the price are the young, who are often vulnerable and uncertain,
and the elderly, who end up being neglected and abandoned. On the
contrary, “out of the family’s experience of fraternity is born solidarity in
society”,[4] which
instils in us a sense of responsibility for others. This is possible only
if, in our homes and our societies, we refuse to allow weariness and resentment
to take root, but instead make way for dialogue, which is the best antidote to
the widespread individualism of today’s culture.
Dear Ambassadors,
An individualistic spirit is
fertile soil for the growth of that kind of indifference towards our neighbours
which leads to viewing them in purely economic terms, to a lack of concern for
their humanity, and ultimately to feelings of fear and cynicism. Are
these not the attitudes we often adopt towards the poor, the marginalized and
the “least” of society? And how many of these “least” do we have in our
societies! Among them I think primarily of migrants, with their burden of
hardship and suffering, as they seek daily, often in desperation, a place to
live in peace and dignity.
Today, then, I would like to
reflect with you on the grave crisis of migration which we are facing, in order
to discern its causes, to consider possible solutions, and to overcome the
inevitable fears associated with this massive and formidable phenomenon, which
in 2015 has mainly concerned Europe, but also various regions of Asia and North
and Central America.
“Be not frightened, neither
be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Jos 1:9).
This is the promise which God makes to Joshua, revealing his concern for every
person, but particularly those in precarious situations such as people seeking
refuge in a foreign country. The Bible as a whole recounts the history of
a humanity on the move, for mobility is part of our human nature. Human
history is made up of countless migrations, sometimes out of an awareness of
the right to choose freely, and often dictated by external circumstances.
From the banishment from Eden to Abraham’s journey to the promised land, from
the Exodus story to the deportation to Babylon, sacred Scripture describes the
struggles and sufferings, the desires and hopes, which are shared by the
hundreds of thousands of persons on the move today, possessed of the same
determination which Moses had to reach a land flowing with “milk and honey”
(cf. Ex 3:17), a land of freedom and
peace.
Now as then, we hear Rachel
weeping for her children who are no more (cf.Jer 31:15; Mt 2:18).
Hers is the plea of thousands of people who weep as they flee horrific wars,
persecutions and human rights violations, or political or social instability,
which often make it impossible for them to live in their native lands. It
is the outcry of those forced to flee in order to escape unspeakable acts of
cruelty towards vulnerable persons, such as children and the disabled, or
martyrdom solely on account of their religion.
Now as then, we hear Jacob
saying to his sons: “Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and
not die” (Gen 42:2). His is the voice of all those who flee
extreme poverty, inability to feed their families or to receive medical care
and education, hopeless squalor or the effects of climate change and extreme
weather conditions. Sadly, we know that hunger continues to be one of the
gravest banes of our world, leading to the death of millions of children every
year. It is painful to realize, however, that often these migrants are
not included in international systems of protection based on international
agreements.
How can we not see in all
this the effects of that “culture of waste” which endangers the human person,
sacrificing men and women before the idols of profit and consumption? It
is a grievous fact that we grow so inured to such situations of poverty and need,
to these tragedies affecting so many lives, that they appear “normal”.
Persons are no longer seen as a paramount value to be cared for and respected,
especially when poor or disabled, or “not yet useful” – like the unborn, or “no
longer needed” – like the elderly. We have grown indifferent to all sorts
of waste, starting with the waste of food, which is all the more deplorable
when so many individuals and families suffer hunger and malnutrition[5].
The Holy See trusts that,
amid today’s sad context of conflicts and disasters, the First World
Humanitarian Summit, convened by the United Nations for May 2016, will succeed
in its goal of placing the person and human dignity at the heart of every
humanitarian response. What is needed is a common commitment which can
decisively turn around the culture of waste and lack of respect for human life,
so that no one will feel neglected or forgotten, and that no further lives will
be sacrificed due to the lack of resources and, above all, of political will.
Sadly, now as then, we hear
the voice of Judah who counsels selling his own brother (cf. Gen 37:26-27).
His is the arrogance of the powerful who exploit the weak, reducing them to
means for their own ends or for strategic and political schemes. Where
regular migration is impossible, migrants are often forced to turn to human
traffickers or smugglers, even though they are aware that in the course of
their journey they may well lose their possessions, their dignity and even
their lives. In this context I once more appeal for an end to trafficking
in persons, which turns human beings, especially the weakest and most
defenceless, into commodities. The image of all those children who died
at sea, victims of human callousness and harsh weather, will remain forever
imprinted on our minds and hearts. Those who survive and reach a country
which accepts them bear the deep and indelible scars of these experiences, in
addition to those left by the atrocities which always accompany wars and
violence.
Now as then, we hear the
angel say: “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain
there till I tell you” (Mt 2:13). His is the voice heard by
many migrants who would never have left their homeland had they not been forced
to. Among these are many Christians who in great numbers have abandoned
their native lands these past years, despite the fact that they have dwelt
there from the earliest days of Christianity.
Finally, we also hear today
the voice of the Psalmist: “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and
wept, when we remembered Zion” (Ps137:1). His is the cry of those
who would readily return to their own country, if only there they could find
adequate conditions of security and sustenance. Here too my thoughts turn
to the Christians of the Middle East, who desire to contribute fully as
citizens to the spiritual and material well-being of their respective nations.
Many of the causes of
migration could have been addressed some time ago. So many disasters
could have been prevented, or at least their harshest effects mitigated.
Today too, before it is too late, much could be done to end these tragedies and
to build peace. But that would mean rethinking entrenched habits and
practices, beginning with issues involving the arms trade, the provision of raw
materials and energy, investment, policies of financing and sustainable
development, and even the grave scourge of corruption. We all know, too,
that with regard to migration there is a need for mid-term and long-term
planning which is not limited to emergency responses. Such planning
should include effective assistance for integrating migrants in their receiving
countries, while also promoting the development of their countries of origin
through policies inspired by solidarity, yet not linking assistance to
ideological strategies and practices alien or contrary to the cultures of the
peoples being assisted.
Without overlooking other
dramatic situations – in this regard, I think particularly of the border
between Mexico and the United States of America, which I will be near when I
visit Ciudad Juárez next month – my thoughts turn in a special way to
Europe. Over the past year Europe has witnessed a great wave of refugees
– many of whom died in the attempt – a wave unprecedented in recent history,
not even after the end of the Second World War. Many migrants from Asia
and Africa see in Europe a beacon for principles such as equality before the
law and for values inherent in human nature, including the inviolable dignity
and equality of every person, love of neighbour regardless of origin or
affiliation, freedom of conscience and solidarity towards our fellow men and
women.
All the same, the massive
number of arrivals on the shores of Europe appear to be overburdening the
system of reception painstakingly built on the ashes of the Second World War, a
system that is still an acknowledged beacon of humanity. Given the
immense influx and the inevitable problems it creates, a number of questions
have be raised about the real possibilities for accepting and accommodating
people, about changes in the cultural and social structures of the receiving
countries, and about the reshaping of certain regional geopolitical
balances. Equally significant are fears about security, further
exacerbated by the growing threat of international terrorism. The present
wave of migration seems to be undermining the foundations of that “humanistic
spirit” which Europe has always loved and defended.[6] Yet
there should be no loss of the values and principles of humanity, respect for
the dignity of every person, mutual subsidiarity and solidarity, however much
they may prove, in some moments of history, a burden difficult to bear. I
wish, then, to reaffirm my conviction that Europe, aided by its great cultural
and religious heritage, has the means to defend the centrality of the human person
and to find the right balance between its twofold moral responsibility to
protect the rights of its citizens and to ensure assistance and acceptance to
migrants[7].
Here I likewise feel obliged
to express gratitude for all initiatives aimed at providing a dignified
reception to these persons; I think, for example, of the Migrant and Refugee
Fund of the Council of Europe Development Bank, and the generous solidarity shown
by a number of countries. I also have in mind the nations neighbouring
Syria, which have responded immediately with help and acceptance, especially
Lebanon, where refugees make up a fourth of the total population, and Jordan,
which has not closed its borders despite the fact that it already harbours
hundreds of thousands of refugees. Nor should we overlook the efforts
made by other countries in the front lines, especially Turkey and Greece.
I wish to express particular gratitude to Italy, whose decisive commitment has
saved many lives in the Mediterranean, and which continues to accept
responsibility on its territory for a massive number of refugees. It is
my hope that the traditional sense of hospitality and solidarity which
distinguishes the Italian people will not be weakened by the inevitable
difficulties of the moment, but that, in light of its age-old tradition, the
nation may prove capable of accepting and integrating the social, economic and
cultural contribution which migrants can offer.
It is important that nations
in the forefront of meeting the present emergency not be left alone, and it is
also essential to initiate a frank and respectful dialogue among all the
countries involved in the problem – countries of origin, transit, or reception -
so that, with greater boldness and creativity, new and sustainable solutions
can be sought. As things presently stand, there is no place for
autonomous solutions pursued by individual states, since the consequences of
the decisions made by each inevitably have repercussions on the entire
international community. Indeed, migrations, more then ever before, will
play a pivotal role in the future of our world, and our response can only be
the fruit of a common effort respectful of human dignity and the rights of
persons. The Development Agenda adopted last September by the United
Nations for the next fifteen years, which deals with many of the problems
causing migration, and other documents of the international community on
handling the issue of migration, will be able to find application consistent
with expectations if they are able to put the person at the centre of political
decisions at every level, seeing humanity as one family, and all people as
brothers and sisters, with respect for mutual differences and convictions of
conscience.
In facing the issue of
migrations, one cannot overlook its cultural implications, beginning with those
linked to religious affiliation. Extremism and fundamentalism find
fertile soil not only in the exploitation of religion for purposes of power,
but also in the vacuum of ideals and the loss of identity – including religious
identity – which dramatically marks the so-called West. This vacuum gives
rise to the fear which leads to seeing the other as a threat and an enemy, to
closed-mindedness and intransigence in defending preconceived notions.
The phenomenon of migration raises a serious cultural issue which necessarily
demands a response. The acceptance of migrants can thus prove a good
opportunity for new understanding and broader horizons, both on the part of
those accepted, who have the responsibility to respect the values, traditions
and laws of the community which takes them in, and on the part of the latter,
who are called to acknowledge the beneficial contribution which each immigrant
can make to the whole community. In this context, the Holy See reaffirms
its commitment in the ecumenical and interreligious sectors to inaugurating a
sincere and respectful dialogue which, by valuing the distinctness and identity
of each individual, can foster a harmonious coexistence among all the members
of society.
Distinguished Members of the
Diplomatic Corps,
2015 witnessed the conclusion of important international agreements, which give
solid hope for the future. I think first of the so-called Iran nuclear
deal, which I hope will contribute to creating a climate of détente in the
region, as well as the reaching of the long-awaited agreement on climate at the
Paris Conference. This significant accord represents for the entire
international community an important achievement; it reflects a powerful
collective realization of the grave responsibility incumbent on individuals and
nations to protect creation, to promote a “culture of care which
permeates all of society”.[8] It is
now essential that those commitments prove more than simply a good intention,
but rather a genuine duty incumbent on all states to do whatever is needed to
safeguard our beloved earth for the sake of all mankind, especially generations
yet to come.
For its part, the year which
has just begun promises to be full of challenges and more than a few tensions
have already appeared on the horizon. I think above all of the serious
disagreements which have arisen in the Persian Gulf region, as well as the
disturbing military test conducted on the Korean peninsula. It is my hope
that these conflicts will be open to the voice of peace and a readiness to seek
agreements. Here I note with satisfaction of certain significant and
particularly encouraging gestures. I think especially of the climate of
peaceful coexistence in which the recent elections in the Central African
Republic were held; these are a positive sign of the will to persevere on the
path to full national reconciliation. I also think of the new initiatives
under way in Cyprus to heal a long-standing division, and to the efforts being
made by the Colombian people to leave behind past conflicts and to attain the
long-awaited peace. All of us look with hope to the important steps made
by the international community to achieve a political and diplomatic solution
of the crisis in Syria, one which can put a long overdue end to the sufferings
of the population. The signals coming from Libya are likewise encouraging
and offer the hope of a renewed commitment to ending violence and reestablishing
the country’s unity. On the other hand, it appears increasingly evident
that only a common and agreed political action will prove able to stem the
spread of extremism and fundamentalism, which spawn terrorist acts which reap
countless victims, not only in Syria and Libya, but in other countries like
Iraq and Yemen.
May this Holy Year of Mercy
also be the occasion of dialogue and reconciliation aimed at consolidating the
common good in Burundi, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in South
Sudan. Above all, may it be a favourable time for definitively ending the
conflict in eastern Ukraine. Of fundamental importance is the support
which the international community, individual states and humanitarian
organizations can offer the country from a number of standpoints, in order to
surmount the present crisis.
Yet the greatest challenge we
face is that of overcoming indifference and working together for peace,[9] which
remains a good which must constantly be sought. Sadly, among the many
parts of our beloved world which long fervently for peace, there is the land
for which God showed a particular love and chose to show to all the face of his
mercy. I pray that this new year can heal the deep wounds dividing
Israelis and Palestinians, and enable the peaceful coexistence of two peoples
who – of this I am sure – in the depths of their heart ask only for peace!
Your Excellencies, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
On the diplomatic level, the Holy See will never cease its efforts to enable
the message of peace to be heard to the ends of the earth. I thus
reiterate the complete readiness of the Secretariat of State to cooperate with
you in favouring constant dialogue between the Apostolic See and the countries
which you represent, for the benefit of the entire international
community. I am certain that this Jubilee year will be a favourable
occasion for the cold indifference of so many hearts to be won over by the
warmth of mercy, that precious gift of God which turns fear into love and makes
us artisans of peace. With these sentiments I renew to each of you, to
your families and your countries, my heartfelt good wishes for a blessed New
Year.
Thank you.
[9] Cf. Overcome Indifference and Win
Peace, Message for the 2015 World Day of Peace (8 December 2015).
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