VATICAN CITY, JAN 10, 2000 (VIS) - This morning in the Sala Regia, Pope John Paul II gave his annual address to members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. He highlighted the lights and shadows of the year that has just ended and, through the dean of the diplomatic corps, Giovanni Galassi of the Republic of San Marino, received collective greetings from all the ambassadors.
He began his speech: "The Vicar of Christ strongly desires to offer to the peoples whom you represent his prayerful good wishes for this Year 2000 which so many have welcomed in 'jubilation'. Christians have entered into the Great Jubilee by commemorating the coming of Christ into time and human history."
The Pope affirmed that "the century just ended has seen remarkable advances in science which have considerably improved people's life and health. ... Information technology has made the world smaller and brought us closer to one another. ... But one question can be asked: was this century also the century of 'brotherhood'?"
Looking back, he recalled "bloody wars which have decimated millions of people and provoked massive exoduses, shameful genocides, ... the arms race, ... terrorism and ethnic conflicts."
"The life sciences and biotechnology continue to find new fields of application, yet they also raise the problem of the limits imposed by the need to safeguard people's dignity, responsibility and safety.
"Globalization, which has profoundly transformed economic systems by creating unexpected possibilities of growth, has also resulted in many people being relegated to the side of the road: Unemployment in the more developed countries and extreme poverty in too many countries of the southern hemisphere continue to hold millions of women and men back from progress and prosperity."
He continued: "For this reason it seems to me that the century now beginning ought to be the century of solidarity. We know one thing today more than in the past: We will never be happy and at peace without one another, much less if some are against others."
The Pope highlighted that "the men and women of the 21st century will be called to a more developed sense of responsibility. ... This also supposes that we must renounce idols such as prosperity at any price, material wealth as the only value, science as the sole explanation of reality. ... It also supposes that God will have His rightful place in people's lives: the first place."
"Such solidarity calls for certain precise commitments. Some of these are quite urgent:" The sharing of technology and prosperity, respect for human rights, the prevention of conflicts and calm dialogue between cultures and religions.
"In recent years there has been much talk of a 'new world order'. The persevering action of far-sighted diplomats, and of multilateral diplomacy in particular, has resulted in a number of praiseworthy initiatives aimed at the building of an authentic 'community of nations'. At present, for example, the Middle East peace process is continuing; the Chinese people are speaking to one another; the two Koreas are in dialogue; certain African countries are attempting to arrange meetings between rival factions; the government and armed groups in Colombia are trying to remain in contact. All this demonstrates a real desire to build a world based on brotherhood. ... Regrettably, however, we must also acknowledge that the errors of the past are all too often being repeated: I am thinking of reactions based on group identity, of persecutions inflicted for religious reasons, of the frequent and at times rash recourse to war, of social inequalities, of the gap between the rich and the poor countries, of the exclusive trust in profit alone, to cite only some typical traits of the century just ended. At the beginning of the year 2000, what do we see?"
"Africa, shackled by ethnic conflicts which hold entire peoples hostage, impeding their economic and social progress and often condemning them to a situation of mere survival.
"The Middle East, constantly poised between war and peace, when we know that only the rule of law and justice will make it possible for all the peoples of the region, without distinction, to live together and to be free of endemic dangers.
"Asia, a continent of immense human and material resources, gathers in a precarious balance peoples of venerable and economically highly developed cultures and others who are becoming increasingly impoverished."
"America, an immense continent where one year ago I had the joy of promulgating the Apostolic Exhortation 'Ecclesia in America,' inviting the peoples of the continent to an ever-renewed personal and communal conversion, in respect for the dignity of the person and love for the outcast, for the sake of promoting a culture of life.
"North America, where economic and political concerns are often considered paramount, is home to many poor people, despite its manifold riches."
"Latin America, which, with a few exceptions, has seen encouraging advances towards democracy, remains dangerously crippled by alarming social inequalities, the drug trade, corruption and, in some cases, movements of armed struggle.
"Europe, following the failure of the ideologies, is finally on the way towards unity; it is struggling to meet the two-fold challenge of reconciliation and the democratic integration of former enemies. Europe has not been spared terrible forms of violence, as the recent Balkan crisis and the conflicts of recent weeks in the Caucasus have shown. The Bishops of the continent recently met in synodal assembly, ... and called everyone to a greater European consciousness."
The Holy Father affirmed that, "in a world structured around sovereign but 'de facto' unequal States, it is indispensable, for stability, understanding and cooperation between peoples, that international relations be increasingly imbued with and shaped by the rule of law. Surely what is lacking is not new texts or juridical instruments; it is quite simply the political will to apply without discrimination those already in existence."
The Holy Father said that he was addressing the diplomats "as one who has himself been a fellow-traveller of several generations of the century just ended." He had shared the "ordeals of my native people as the darkest hours experienced by Europe. Twenty-one years ago, when I became the Successor of the Apostle Peter, I felt myself charged with a universal fatherhood."
"Today, in addressing you who represent practically all the peoples of the earth, I would like to share with each one something personal: at the opening of the doors of a new millennium, the Pope began to think that people might finally learn to draw lessons from the past. Indeed, I ask everyone, in God's name, to save humanity from further wars, to respect human life and the family, to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, to realize that we are all responsible for one another."
The Pope concluded with the words: "Life takes shape in our daily choices. Political leaders, since they have the role of administering the 'res publica', can by their personal choices and their programmes of action guide whole societies either towards life or towards death. For this reason believers, and the faithful of the Catholic Church in particular, consider it their duty to take an active part in the public life of the societies to which they belong."
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