The New Year marks the 40th anniversary of the celebration of the first World Day of Peace (1968-2008).
Forty years ago, Pope Paul VI addressed himself to all men of goodwill to exhort them to celebrate "The Day of Peace", throughout the world, on the first day of the year. He expressed the desire that "every year, this commemoration be repeated as a hope and as a promise, at the beginning of the calendar which measures and outlines the path of human life in time, that peace with its just and beneficent equilibrium may dominate the development of events to come".
Pope Paul XVI was convinced that his proposal interpreted the aspirations of peoples, of their governments, of international organisms which strive to preserve peace in the world, of those religious institutions so interested in the promotion of peace, of cultural, political and social movements that make peace their ideal; of youth, whose perspicacity regarding the new paths of civilisation, dutifully oriented towards its peaceful developments is more lively; of wise men who see how much, in our time, peace is both necessary and threatened.
The proposal to dedicate to peace the first day of the new year was not intended, therefore, as exclusively religious and Catholic. The hope was to have the adherence of all the true friends of peace, as if it were their own initiative, to be expressed in a free manner, congenial to the particular character of those who are aware of how beautiful and how important is the harmony of all voices in the world for the exaltation of this primary good, which is peace, in the varied concert of modern humanity.
The Catholic Church, always with the intention of service and of example, simply wanted to "launch the idea", in the hope that it may not only receive the widest consent of the civilised world but that such an idea may find everywhere numerous promoters, able and capable of impressing on the Day of Peace, to be celebrated on the first day of every new year, that sincere and strong character of conscious humanity, redeemed from its sad and fatal bellicose conflicts, which will give to the history of the world a more happy, ordered and civilised development.
The Church felt the necessity of defending peace in the face of dangers which always threaten it: The danger of the survival of selfishness in the relations among nations; the danger of violence into which some populations can allow themselves to be drawn by desperation at not having their right to life and human dignity recognised and respected; the danger of recourse to frightful weapons of extermination, which some nations possess, spending enormous financial means, the expenditure of which is reason for painful reflection in the presence of the grave needs which hinder the development of so many other peoples; the danger of believing that international controversies cannot be resolved by the ways of reason, that is, by negotiations founded on law, justice, and equity, but only by means of deterrent and murderous forces.
Paul VI believed that the subjective foundation of peace was a new spirit which must animate coexistence between peoples, a new outlook on man, his duties and his destiny. "Much progress must still be made to render this outlook universal and effective; a new training must educate the new generations to reciprocal respect between nations, to brotherhood between peoples, to collaboration between races, with a view also to their progress and development. The international organisations which have been set up for this purpose must be supported by all, become better known and be provided with the authority and means fit for their great mission. The Peace Day must honour these institutions and surround their work with prestige, with confidence and with that sense of expectation that will keep alive in them the realisation of their most serious responsibility and keep strong the consciousness of the charge which has been entrusted to them."
The message for the first World Day of Peace included a warning that must always be kept in mind: Peace cannot be based on a false rhetoric of words which are welcomed because they answer to the deep, genuine aspirations of humanity, but which can also serve, and unfortunately have sometimes served, to hide the lack of true spirit and of real intentions for peace, if not indeed to mask sentiments and actions of oppression and party interests.
Nor can one rightly speak of peace where no recognition or respect is given to its solid foundations, namely, sincerity, justice and love in the relations between states, and, within the limits of each nation, in the relations of citizens with each other and with their rulers; freedom of individuals and of peoples, in all its expressions, civic, cultural, moral, and religious; otherwise, it is not peace which will exist - even if, perchance, oppression is able to create the external appearance of order and legality - but an unceasing and insuppressible growth of revolt and war.
Pope Benedict XVI is on record saying that, born of a providential intuition of Pope Paul VI and carried forward with great conviction by Pope John Paul II, the celebration of this Day of Peace has made it possible for the Church, over the course of the years, to present in these messages an instructive body of teaching regarding this fundamental human good.
The basis of these messages of the Catholic Church is very clear: Peace is not merely the absence of war and is not limited to maintaining a balance of power between adversaries. Peace requires safeguarding the personal well-being of persons, free communication among people, the honest sharing of the riches of the inner spirits and the talents of people, respect for the dignity of all human beings and the assiduous practice of fraternity. Peace is not pacifism; it does not mask a base and slothful concept of life but it proclaims the highest and most universal values of life: Truth, justice, freedom, love.
Forty years ago, Paul VI said: "Men must always speak of peace. The world must be educated to love peace, to build it up and defend it. Against the resurgent preludes to war (nationalistic competition, armaments, revolutionary provocations, racial hatred, the spirit of revenge, etc) and also against the snares of tactical pacifism, intended to drug the enemy one must overcome, to smother in men's minds the meaning of justice, of duty and of sacrifice - we must arouse in the men of our time and of future generations the sense and love of peace founded upon truth, justice, freedom and love". This call remains valid.