Vatican
City, 12 December 2013 (VIS) - “ Fraternity as the foundation of
peace and as the pathway to peace” is the title chosen by Pope
Francis for his first message for the 47th World Day for Peace, which
will be celebrated on 1 January 2014. The document, dated 8 December,
Feast of the Immaculate Conception, consists of ten points, including
a brief prologue and a conclusion, structured in relation to two
biblical quotations: “Where is your brother?” (Genesis 4:9) and
“And you will all be brothers” (Matthew 23:8), and six phrases
describing attributes of fraternity: “Fraternity, the foundation
and pathway to peace”, “Fraternity, a prerequisite for fighting
poverty”, “The rediscovery of fraternity in the economy”,
“Fraternity extinguishes war”, “Corruption and organized crime
threaten fraternity” and “Fraternity helps to preserve and
cultivate nature”.
The
full text of the message is published below:
“In
this, my first Message for the World Day of Peace, I wish to offer to
everyone, individuals and peoples, my best wishes for a life filled
with joy and hope. In the heart of every man and woman is the desire
for a full life, including that irrepressible longing for fraternity
which draws us to fellowship with others and enables us to see them
not as enemies or rivals, but as brothers and sisters to be accepted
and embraced.
Fraternity
is an essential human quality, for we are relational beings. A lively
awareness of our relatedness helps us to look upon and to treat each
person as a true sister or brother; without fraternity it is
impossible to build a just society and a solid and lasting peace. We
should remember that fraternity is generally first learned in the
family, thanks above all to the responsible and complementary roles
of each of its members, particularly the father and the mother. The
family is the wellspring of all fraternity, and as such it is the
foundation and the first pathway to peace, since, by its vocation, it
is meant to spread its love to the world around it.
The
ever-increasing number of interconnections and communications in
today’s world makes us powerfully aware of the unity and common
destiny of the nations. In the dynamics of history, and in the
diversity of ethnic groups, societies and cultures, we see the seeds
of a vocation to form a community composed of brothers and sisters
who accept and care for one another. But this vocation is still
frequently denied and ignored in a world marked by a “globalization
of indifference” which makes us slowly inured to the suffering of
others and closed in on ourselves.
In
many parts of the world, there seems to be no end to grave offences
against fundamental human rights, especially the right to life and
the right to religious freedom. The tragic phenomenon of human
trafficking, in which the unscrupulous prey on the lives and the
desperation of others, is but one unsettling example of this.
Alongside overt armed conflicts are the less visible but no less
cruel wars fought in the economic and financial sectors with means
which are equally destructive of lives, families and businesses.
Globalisation,
as Benedict XVI pointed out, makes us neighbours, but does not make
us brothers. The many situations of inequality, poverty and
injustice, are signs not only of a profound lack of fraternity, but
also of the absence of a culture of solidarity. New ideologies,
characterized by rampant individualism, egocentrism and materialistic
consumerism, weaken social bonds, fuelling that 'throwaway' mentality
which leads to contempt for, and the abandonment of, the weakest and
those considered 'useless'. In this way human coexistence
increasingly tends to resemble a mere do ut des which is both
pragmatic and selfish.
At
the same time, it appears clear that contemporary ethical systems
remain incapable of producing authentic bonds of fraternity, since a
fraternity devoid of reference to a common Father as its ultimate
foundation is unable to endure. True brotherhood among people
presupposes and demands a transcendent Fatherhood. Based on the
recognition of this fatherhood, human fraternity is consolidated:
each person becomes a 'neighbour' who cares for others.
'Where
is your brother?' (Gen 4:9)
2.
To understand more fully this human vocation to fraternity, to
recognise more clearly the obstacles standing in the way of its
realisation and to identify ways of overcoming them, it is of primary
importance to let oneself be led by knowledge of God’s plan, which
is presented in an eminent way in sacred Scripture.
According
to the biblical account of creation, all people are descended from
common parents, Adam and Eve, the couple created by God in his image
and likeness, to whom Cain and Abel were born. In the story of this
first family, we see the origins of society and the evolution of
relations between individuals and peoples.
Abel
is a shepherd, Cain is a farmer. Their profound identity and their
vocation is to be brothers, albeit in the diversity of their activity
and culture, their way of relating to God and to creation. Cain’s
murder of Abel bears tragic witness to his radical rejection of their
vocation to be brothers. Their story brings out the difficult task to
which all men and women are called, to live as one, each taking care
of the other. Cain, incapable of accepting God’s preference for
Abel who had offered him the best of his flock – 'The Lord had
regard for Abel and his offering; but for Cain and his offering he
had no regard' – killed Abel out of jealousy. In this way, he
refused to regard Abel as a brother, to relate to him rightly, to
live in the presence of God by assuming his responsibility to care
for and to protect others. By asking him 'Where is your brother?',
God holds Cain accountable for what he has done. He answers: 'I do
not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?'. Then, the Book of Genesis
tells us, 'Cain went away from the presence of the Lord'.
We
need to ask ourselves what were the real reasons which led Cain to
disregard the bond of fraternity and, at the same time, the bond of
reciprocity and fellowship which joined him to his brother Abel. God
himself condemns and reproves Cain’s collusion with evil: 'sin is
crouching at your door'. But Cain refuses to turn against evil and
decides instead to raise his 'hand against his brother Abel', thus
scorning God’s plan. In this way, he thwarts his primordial calling
to be a child of God and to live in fraternity.
The
story of Cain and Abel teaches that we have an inherent calling to
fraternity, but also the tragic capacity to betray that calling. This
is witnessed by our daily acts of selfishness, which are at the root
of so many wars and so much injustice: many men and women die at the
hands of their brothers and sisters who are incapable of seeing
themselves as such, that is, as beings made for reciprocity, for
communion and self-giving.
“And
you will all be brothers” (Mt 23:8)
3.
The question naturally arises: Can the men and women of this world
ever fully respond to the longing for fraternity placed within them
by God the Father? Will they ever manage by their power alone to
overcome indifference, egoism and hatred, and to accept the
legitimate differences typical of brothers and sisters?
By
paraphrasing his words, we can summarize the answer given by the Lord
Jesus: 'For you have only one Father, who is God, and you are all
brothers and sisters'. The basis of fraternity is found in God’s
fatherhood. We are not speaking of a generic fatherhood, indistinct
and historically ineffectual, but rather of the specific and
extraordinarily concrete personal love of God for each man and woman.
It is a fatherhood, then, which effectively generates fraternity,
because the love of God, once welcomed, becomes the most formidable
means of transforming our lives and relationships with others,
opening us to solidarity and to genuine sharing.
In
a particular way, human fraternity is regenerated in and by Jesus
Christ through his death and resurrection. The Cross is the
definitive foundational locus of that fraternity which human beings
are not capable of generating themselves. Jesus Christ, who assumed
human nature in order to redeem it, loving the Father unto death on
the Cross, has through his resurrection made of us a new humanity, in
full communion with the will of God, with his plan, which includes
the full realization of our vocation to fraternity.
From
the beginning, Jesus takes up the plan of the Father, acknowledging
its primacy over all else. But Christ, with his abandonment to death
for love of the Father, becomes the definitive and new principle of
us all; we are called to regard ourselves in him as brothers as
sisters, inasmuch as we are children of the same Father. He himself
is the Covenant; in his person we are reconciled with God and with
one another as brothers and sisters. Jesus’ death on the Cross
also brings an end to the separation between peoples, between the
people of the Covenant and the people of the Gentiles, who were
bereft of hope until that moment, since they were not party to the
pacts of the Promise. As we read in the Letter to the Ephesians,
Jesus Christ is the one who reconciles all people in himself. He is
peace, for he made one people out of the two, breaking down the wall
of separation which divided them, that is, the hostility between
them. He created in himself one people, one new man, one new
humanity.
All
who accept the life of Christ and live in him acknowledge God as
Father and give themselves completely to him, loving him above all
things. The reconciled person sees in God the Father of all, and, as
a consequence, is spurred on to live a life of fraternity open to
all. In Christ, the other is welcomed and loved as a son or daughter
of God, as a brother or sister, not as a stranger, much less as a
rival or even an enemy. In God’s family, where all are sons and
daughters of the same Father, and, because they are grafted to
Christ, sons and daughters in the Son, there are no 'disposable
lives. All men and women enjoy an equal and inviolable dignity. All
are loved by God. All have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, who
died on the Cross and rose for all. This is the reason why no one can
remain indifferent before the lot of our brothers and sisters.
Fraternity,
the foundation and pathway to peace
4.
This being said, it is easy to realise that fraternity is the
foundation and pathway of peace. The social encyclicals written by my
predecessors can be very helpful in this regard. It would be
sufficient to draw on the definitions of peace found in the
encyclicals “Populorum progressio” by Pope Paul VI and
“Sollicitudo rei socialis” by John Paul II. From the first we
learn that the integral development of peoples is the new name of
peace. From the second, we conclude that peace is an opus
solidaritatis.
Paul
VI stated that not only individuals but nations too must encounter
one another in a spirit of fraternity. As he says: 'In this mutual
understanding and friendship, in this sacred communion, we must also
… work together to build the common future of the human race'. In
the first place, this duty falls to those who are most privileged.
Their obligations are rooted in human and supernatural fraternity and
are manifested in three ways: the duty of solidarity, which requires
the richer nations to assist the less developed; the duty of social
justice, which requires the realignment of relationships between
stronger and weaker peoples in terms of greater fairness; and the
duty of universal charity, which entails the promotion of a more
humane world for all, a world in which each has something to give and
to receive, without the progress of the one constituting an obstacle
to the development of the other.
If,
then, we consider peace as opus solidaritatis, we cannot fail to
acknowledge that fraternity is its principal foundation. Peace, John
Paul II affirmed, is an indivisible good. Either it is the good of
all or it is the good of none. It can be truly attained and enjoyed,
as the highest quality of life and a more human and sustainable
development, only if all are guided by solidarity as 'a firm and
persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good'. This
means not being guided by a 'desire for profit' or a 'thirst for
power'. What is needed is the willingness to 'lose ourselves' for
the sake of others rather than exploiting them, and to 'serve them'
instead of oppressing them for our own advantage. 'The other –
whether a person, people or nation – [is to be seen] not just as
some kind of instrument, with a work capacity and physical strength
to be exploited at low cost and then discarded when no longer useful,
but as our neighbour, a helper'.
Christian
solidarity presumes that our neighbour is loved not only as 'a human
being with his or her own rights and a fundamental equality with
everyone else, but as the living image of God the Father, redeemed by
the blood of Jesus Christ and placed under the permanent action of
the Holy Spirit', as another brother or sister. As John Paul II
noted: 'At that point, awareness of the common fatherhood of God, of
the brotherhood of all in Christ – “children in the Son” –
and of the presence and life-giving action of the Holy Spirit, will
bring to our vision of the world a new criterion for interpreting
it', for changing it.
Fraternity,
a prerequisite for fighting poverty
5.
In his encyclical “Caritas in veritate”, my predecessor reminded
the world how the lack of fraternity between peoples and men and
women is a significant cause of poverty. In many societies, we are
experiencing a profound poverty of relationships as a result of the
lack of solid family and community relationships. We are concerned by
the various types of hardship, marginalisation, isolation and various
forms of pathological dependencies which we see increasing. This kind
of poverty can be overcome only through the rediscovery and valuing
of fraternal relationships in the heart of families and communities,
through the sharing of joys and sorrows, of the hardships and
triumphs that are a part of human life.
Moreover,
if on the one hand we are seeing a reduction in absolute poverty, on
the other hand we cannot fail to recognise that there is a serious
rise in relative poverty, that is, instances of inequality between
people and groups who live together in particular regions or in a
determined historical-cultural context. In this sense, effective
policies are needed to promote the principle of 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.
One
also sees the need for policies which can lighten an excessive
imbalance between incomes. We must not forget the Church’s teaching
on the so-called social mortgage, which holds that although it is
lawful, as Saint Thomas Aquinas says, and indeed necessary 'that
people have ownership of 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'.
Finally,
there is yet another form of promoting fraternity – and thus
defeating poverty – which must be at the basis of all the others.
It is the detachment of those who choose to live a sober and
essential lifestyle, of those who, by sharing their own wealth, thus
manage to experience fraternal communion with others. This is
fundamental for following Jesus Christ and being truly Christian. It
is not only the case of consecrated persons who profess the vow of
poverty, but also of the many families and responsible citizens who
firmly believe that it is their fraternal relationship with their
neighbours which constitutes their most precious good.
The
rediscovery of fraternity in the economy
6.
The grave financial and economic crises of the present time – which
find their origin in the progressive distancing of man from God and
from his neighbour, in the greedy pursuit of material goods on the
one hand, and in the impoverishment of interpersonal and community
relations on the other – have pushed man to seek satisfaction,
happiness and security in consumption and earnings out of all
proportion to the principles of a sound economy. In 1979 John Paul II
had called attention to 'a real perceptible danger that, while man’s
dominion over the world of things is making enormous advances, he
should lose the essential threads of his dominion and in various ways
let his humanity be subjected to the world and become himself
something subject to manipulation in many ways – even if the
manipulation is often not perceptible directly – through the whole
of the organization of community life, through the production system
and through pressure from the means of social communication'.
The
succession of economic crises should lead to a timely rethinking of
our models of economic development and to a change in lifestyles.
Today’s crisis, even with its serious implications for people’s
lives, can also provide us with a fruitful opportunity to rediscover
the virtues of prudence, temperance, justice and strength. These
virtues can help us to overcome difficult moments and to recover the
fraternal bonds which join us one to another, with deep confidence
that human beings need and are capable of something greater than
maximizing their individual interest. Above all, these virtues are
necessary for building and preserving a society in accord with human
dignity.
Fraternity
extinguishes war
7.
In the past year, many of our brothers and sisters have continued to
endure the destructive experience of war, which constitutes a grave
and deep wound inflicted on fraternity.
Many
conflicts are taking place amid general indifference. To all those
who live in lands where weapons impose terror and destruction, I
assure you of my personal closeness and that of the whole Church,
whose mission is to bring Christ’s love to the defenceless victims
of forgotten wars through her prayers for peace, her service to the
wounded, the starving, refugees, the displaced and all those who live
in fear. The Church also speaks out in order to make leaders hear the
cry of pain of the suffering and to put an end to every form of
hostility, abuse and the violation of fundamental human rights.
For
this reason, I appeal forcefully to all those who sow violence and
death by force of arms: in the person you today see simply as an
enemy to be beaten, discover rather your brother or sister, and hold
back your hand! Give up the way of arms and go out to meet the other
in dialogue, pardon and reconciliation, in order to rebuild justice,
trust, and hope around you! 'From this standpoint, it is clear that,
for the world’s peoples, armed conflicts are always a deliberate
negation of international harmony, and create profound divisions and
deep wounds which require many years to heal. Wars are a concrete
refusal to pursue the great economic and social goals that the
international community has set itself”.
Nevertheless,
as long as so great a quantity of arms are in circulation as at
present, new pretexts can always be found for initiating hostilities.
For this reason, I make my own the appeal of my predecessors for the
non-proliferation of arms and for disarmament of all parties,
beginning with nuclear and chemical weapons disarmament.
We
cannot however fail to observe that international agreements and
national laws – while necessary and greatly to be desired – are
not of themselves 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. I express my
hope that the daily commitment of all will continue to bear fruit and
that there will be an effective application in international law of
the right to peace, as a fundamental human right and a necessary
prerequisite for every other right.
Corruption
and organized crime threaten fraternity
8.
The horizon of fraternity also has to do with the need for fulfilment
of every man and woman. People’s legitimate ambitions, especially
in the case of the young, should not be thwarted or offended, nor
should people be robbed of their hope of realising them.
Nevertheless, ambition must not be confused with the abuse of power.
On the contrary, people should compete with one another in mutual
esteem. In disagreements, which are also an unavoidable part of life,
we should always remember that we are brothers and sisters, and
therefore teach others and teach ourselves not to consider our
neighbour as an enemy or as an adversary to be eliminated.
Fraternity
generates social peace because it creates a balance between freedom
and justice, between personal responsibility and solidarity, between
the good of individuals and the common good. And so a political
community must act in a transparent and responsible way to favour all
this. Citizens must feel themselves represented by the public
authorities in respect for their freedom. Yet frequently a wedge is
driven between citizens and institutions by partisan interests which
disfigure that relationship, fostering the creation of an enduring
climate of conflict.
An
authentic spirit of fraternity overcomes the individual selfishness
which conflicts with people’s ability to live in freedom and in
harmony among themselves. Such selfishness develops socially –
whether it is in the many forms of corruption, so widespread today,
or in the formation of criminal organizations, from small groups to
those organised on a global scale. 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.
I
also think of the heartbreaking drama of drug abuse, which reaps
profits in contempt of the moral and civil laws. I think of the
devastation of natural resources and ongoing pollution, and the
tragedy of the exploitation of labour. I think too of illicit money
trafficking and financial speculation, which often prove both
predatory and harmful for entire economic and social systems,
exposing millions of men and women to poverty. I think of
prostitution, which every day reaps innocent victims, especially the
young, robbing them of their future. I think of the abomination of
human trafficking, crimes and abuses against minors, the horror of
slavery still present in many parts of the world; the frequently
overlooked tragedy of migrants, who are often victims of disgraceful
and illegal manipulation. As John XXIII wrote: 'There is nothing
human about a society based on relationships of power. Far from
encouraging, as it should, the attainment of people’s growth and
perfection, it proves oppressive and restrictive of their freedom”.
Yet human beings can experience conversion; they must never despair
of being able to change their lives. I wish this to be a message of
hope and confidence for all, even for those who have committed brutal
crimes, for God does not wish the death of the sinner, but that he
converts and lives.
In
the broad context of human social relations, when we look to crime
and punishment, we cannot help but think of the inhumane conditions
in so many prisons, where those in custody are often reduced to a
subhuman status in violation of their human dignity and stunted in
their hope and desire for rehabilitation. The Church does much in
these environments, mostly in silence. I exhort and I encourage
everyone to do more, in the hope that the efforts being made in this
area by so many courageous men and women will be increasingly
supported, fairly and honestly, by the civil authorities as well.
Fraternity
helps to preserve and cultivate nature
9.
The human family has received from the Creator a common gift: nature.
The Christian view of creation includes a positive judgement about
the legitimacy of interventions on nature if these are meant to be
beneficial and are performed responsibly, that is to say, by
acknowledging the “grammar” inscribed in nature and by wisely
using resources for the benefit of all, with respect for the beauty,
finality and usefulness of every living being and its place in the
ecosystem. Nature, in a word, is at our disposition and we are called
to exercise a responsible stewardship over it. Yet so often we are
driven by greed and by the arrogance of dominion, possession,
manipulation and exploitation; we do not preserve nature; nor do we
respect it or consider it a gracious gift which we must care for and
set at the service of our brothers and sisters, including future
generations.
In
a particular way, the agricultural sector is the primary productive
sector with the crucial vocation of cultivating and protecting
natural resources in order to feed humanity. In this regard the
continuing disgrace of hunger in the world moves me to share with you
the question: How are we using the earth’s resources? Contemporary
societies should reflect on the hierarchy of priorities to which
production is directed. It is a truly pressing duty to use the
earth’s resources in such a way that all may be free from hunger.
Initiatives and possible solutions are many, and are not limited to
an increase in production. It is well known that present production
is sufficient, and yet millions of persons continue to suffer and die
from hunger, and this is a real scandal. We need, then, to find ways
by which all may benefit from the fruits of the earth, not only to
avoid the widening gap between those who have more and those who must
be content with the crumbs, but above all because it is a question of
justice, equality and respect for every human being. In this regard I
would like to remind everyone of that necessary universal destination
of all goods which is one of the fundamental principles of the
Church’s social teaching. Respect for this principle is the
essential condition for facilitating an effective and fair access to
those essential and primary goods which every person needs and to
which he or she has a right.
Conclusion
10.
Fraternity needs to be discovered, loved, experienced, proclaimed and
witnessed to. But only love, bestowed as a gift from God, enables us
to accept and fully experience fraternity.
The
necessary realism proper to politics and economy cannot be reduced to
mere technical know-how 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.
We
Christians believe that in the Church we are all members of a single
body, all mutually necessary, because each has been given a grace
according to the measure of the gift of Christ, for the common good.
Christ has come to the world so as to bring us divine grace, that is,
the possibility of sharing in his life. This entails weaving a fabric
of fraternal relationships marked by reciprocity, forgiveness and
complete self-giving, according to the breadth and the depth of the
love of God offered to humanity in the One who, crucified and risen,
draws all to himself: 'A new commandment I give to you, that you love
one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one
another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have
love for one another”. This is the good news that demands from each
one a step forward, a perennial exercise of empathy, of listening to
the suffering and the hopes of others, even those furthest away from
me, and walking the demanding path of that love which knows how to
give and spend itself freely for the good of all our brothers and
sisters.
Christ
embraces all of humanity and wishes no one to be lost. 'For God sent
the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world
might be saved through him'. He does it without oppressing or
constraining anyone to open to him the doors of heart and mind. 'Let
the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one
who serves' – Jesus Christ says – 'I am among you as one who
serves'. Every activity therefore must be distinguished by an
attitude of service to persons, especially those furthest away and
less known. Service is the soul of that fraternity that builds up
peace.
May
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, help us to understand and live every day
the fraternity that springs up from the heart of her Son, so as to
bring peace to each person on this our beloved earth.”
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