More quotes from Pope Francis’s message for the 47th World Day of Peace, which was celebrated on Wednesday. The message’s theme was: Fraternity as the foundation of peace and as the pathway to peace.
Politics and economy
“The necessary realism proper to politics and economy cannot be reduced to mere technical knowhow bereft of ideals and unconcerned with the transcendent dimension of man. When this openness to God is lacking, every human activity is impoverished and persons are reduced to objects that can be exploited.
“Only when politics and the economy are open to moving within the wide space ensured by the One who loves each man and each woman, will they achieve an ordering based on a genuine spirit of fraternal charity and become effective instruments of integral human development and peace.”
Exploitation and power
“I also think of drug abuse, which reaps profits in contempt of moral and civil laws, of the devastation of natural resources and pollution, and the exploitation of labour. I think too of illicit money trafficking and financial speculation, which often prove harmful for entire economic and social systems, exposing millions of men and women to poverty.
“I think of prostitution, which reaps innocent victims, especially the young, robbing them of their future, of the abomination of human trafficking, crimes and abuses against minors, the horror of slavery still present in the world; the frequently overlooked tragedy of migrants, who are victims of disgraceful and illegal manipulation.
“As John XXIII wrote: ‘There is nothing human about a society based on relationships of power.”
Conflict and conversion
“We cannot fail to observe that international agreements and national laws – while necessary and desired – are not sufficient to protect humanity from the risk of armed conflict. A conversion of hearts is needed, which would permit everyone to recognise in the other a brother or sister to care for, and to work together with, in building a fulfilling life for all. This is the spirit which inspires many initiatives of civil society, including religious organisations, to promote peace.”
Risks of relative poverty
“There is a rise in relative poverty, that is, inequality between people and groups who live together in particular regions or in a determined historical-cultural context. Policies are needed to promote fraternity, securing for people – who are equal in dignity and in fundamental rights – access to capital, services, educational resources, healthcare and technology so that every person has the opportunity to express and realise his or her life project and can develop fully as a person.”
Social mortgage
“One sees the need for policies which lighten an excessive imbalance between incomes. We must not forget the Church’s teaching on social mortgage, which holds that though it is lawful, as St Thomas Aquinas says, and necessary ‘that people own goods’, insofar as their use is concerned, ‘they possess them as not just their own, but common to others as well, in the sense that they can benefit others as well as themselves’.”
Forms of selfishness
“A spirit of fraternity overcomes the selfishness which conflicts with people’s ability to live in freedom and in harmony. Such selfishness develops socially – whether it is in the many forms of corruption, or criminal organisations. These groups tear down legality and justice, striking at the very heart of the dignity of the person. These organisations gravely offend God, they hurt others and they harm creation, all the more so when they have religious overtones.”
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)