Pope Francis receives new Ambassadors
Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday met with newly
accredited non resident Ambassadors to the Holy See telling them
that those who hold public office at national and international levels are
called to cultivate a nonviolent style in their consciences and in the exercise
of their duties.
Below find the English translation of the Pope's
discourse to the Ambassadors
Your Excellencies,
I am pleased to receive you for presentation of the Letters
accrediting you as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Holy
See on the part of your respective countries: Burundi, Fiji, Mauritius,
Moldova, Sweden and Tunisia. I thank you for your kind words, which
attest to your desire to maintain and develop the relations of esteem and
cooperation which you enjoy with the Holy See, and I ask you to convey to the
Heads of State whom you represent my gratitude and the assurance of my prayers
for them and for their nations.
You have come from distant and very different areas of the
world. Here in Rome this is always a source of satisfaction, since the
horizon of the Holy See is intrinsically universal. This is due to the
vocation and mission entrusted by God to the Successor of the Apostle Peter, a
mission that is essentially religious, yet in the course of history has also
involved relations with states and those who govern them. The Catholic
Church, whose centre of unity and direction is found, as it were, in the Holy
See, is called to pass on and bear witness to those spiritual and moral values
grounded in the very nature of human beings and society, and which, as such,
can be shared by all those committed to the pursuit of the common good.
Preeminent among these values is that of peace, as seen in
the fact that for fifty years now, the Popes have dedicated the first day of
January to peace, addressing a special Message to the world’s civil and
religious authorities, and to all men and women of goodwill. The Message
for the coming World Day of Peace, published just three days ago, has as its
theme: Nonviolence: A Style of Politics for Peace. The happy occasion of
our meeting today allows me to share with you some brief reflections on that
theme.
Nonviolence is a typical example of a universal value that
finds fulfilment in the Gospel of Christ but is also a part of other noble and
ancient spiritual traditions. In a world like our own, sadly marked by
wars and numerous conflicts, to say nothing of widespread violence evident in
various ways in day-to-day life, the choice of nonviolence as a style of life
is increasingly demanded in the exercise of responsibility at every level, from
family education, to social and civil commitment, to political activity and
international relations. In every situation, this means rejecting
violence as a method for resolving conflicts and dealing with them instead
through dialogue and negotiation.
In a particular way, those who hold public office on the
national and international levels are called to cultivate a nonviolent style in
their consciences and in the exercise of their duties. This is not the
same as weakness or passivity; rather it presupposes firmness, courage and the
ability to face issues and conflicts with intellectual honesty, truly seeking
the common good over and above all partisan interest, be it ideological,
economic or political. In the course of the past century, marred by wars
and genocides of unheard-of proportions, we have nonetheless seen outstanding
examples of how nonviolence, embraced with conviction and practised
consistently, can yield significant results, also on the social and political
plane. Some peoples, and indeed entire nations, thanks to the efforts of
nonviolent leaders, peacefully achieved the goals of freedom and justice.
This is the path to pursue now and in the future. This is the way of
peace. Not a peace proclaimed by words but in fact denied by pursuing
strategies of domination, backed up by scandalous outlays for arms, while so
many people lack the very necessities of life. Dear Ambassadors, it is my
desire, and that of the Holy See, to advance, together with the governments of
your countries, this process of promoting peace and those other values that
contribute to the integral development of individuals and society. With
this in mind, I now offer you my heartfelt best wishes for the mission that you
begin today, while assuring you of the ready cooperation of the Roman Curia.
Upon you and your families, and upon your respective countries, I invoke an
abundance of divine blessings.
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