TRUTH, JUSTICE, LOVE AND FREEDOM: CONDITIONS FOR PEACE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 17, 2002 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office, Archbishop Renato R. Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, presented John Paul II's Message for the 36th World Day of Peace. Its theme is: "Pacem in terris": A Permanent Commitment.

Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi and Msgr. Frank J. Dewane, respectively secretary and undersecretary of the dicastery, also participated in the press conference alongside Archbishop Martino.

Archbishop Martino affirmed that after the Pope stated in the message that "the world to which John XXIII wrote was then in a profound state of disorder", he recalls that only two years before in 1961 the Berlin Wall had been built and the world was dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis. "In this historical context ... 'Pacem in terris' was a break through because it reaffirmed the fundamental value of peace as an aspiration of people all over the world to live in security, justice and hope." Blessed John XXIII identified the "essential conditions for peace: truth, justice, love and freedom."

"The connection that the Holy Father perceives between the awareness of spiritual values (the Pope also talks about 'spiritual sensitivity') and the public and political consequences that this awareness can have seems very relevant to me," he continued. "This relationship has historically demonstrated its relevance especially in the sphere of human rights."

The president of the council said that the Pope refers to "working out a concept of the common good, a classical principle of social doctrine, at a global level, proposing the concept of 'universal common good'."

Archbishop Martino added that John Paul II emphasized "overcoming the separation between moral and political exigencies at all national and international levels. ... The problem of peace, correctly understood, cannot ignore questions related to moral principles, especially those connected to the affirmation of dignity and human rights."

"If the new name for peace is development, disarmament for development should become more necessary every day. ... Hunger cannot be eliminated while so many thousands of millions of dollars are spent on military expenditures in the world."

The message of the Holy Father concludes "with an invitation to cultivate an adequate culture and spirituality of peace," said Archbishop Martino. "In the Christian outlook, peace not does only concern national and international institutes. ... Each of us in our own professional environment must feel the serious duty to increase peace with personal acts of peace."

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