Vatican City, 15 December 2015 (VIS) -
“Overcome indifference and win peace” is the title of the Holy
Father's Message to celebrate the 49th World Day of Peace, to be held
on 1 January 2016. The Message was signed on 8 December, Solemnity of
the Immaculate Conception of Mary Most Holy, and the day of the
opening of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. It is divided into eight
chapters: God is not indifferent, God cares about mankind, God does
not abandon us; Maintaining our reasons for hope; Kinds of
indifference; Peace threatened by global indifference; From
indifference to mercy: the conversion of hearts; Building a culture
of solidarity and mercy to overcome indifference; Peace: the fruit of
a culture of solidarity, mercy and compassion; and Peace in the sign
of the Jubilee of Mercy.
The following is the full text of the
Message:
“1. God is not indifferent! God cares
about mankind! God does not abandon us! At the beginning of the New
Year, I would like to share not only this profound conviction but
also my cordial good wishes for prosperity, peace and the fulfilment
of the hopes of every man and every woman, every family, people and
nation throughout the world, including all Heads of State and
Government and all religious leaders. We continue to trust that 2016
will see us all firmly and confidently engaged, on different levels,
in the pursuit of justice and peace. Peace is both God’s gift and a
human achievement. As a gift of God, it is entrusted to all men and
women, who are called to attain it.
Maintaining our reasons for hope
2. Sadly, war and terrorism,
accompanied by kidnapping, ethnic or religious persecution and the
misuse of power, marked the past year from start to finish. In many
parts of the world, these have became so common as to constitute a
real “third world war fought piecemeal”. Yet some events of the
year now ending inspire me, in looking ahead to the new year, to
encourage everyone not to lose hope in our human ability to conquer
evil and to combat resignation and indifference. They demonstrate our
capacity to show solidarity and to rise above self-interest, apathy
and indifference in the face of critical situations.
Here I would mention the efforts to
bring world leaders together at COP21 in the search for new ways to
confront climate change and to protect the earth, our common home. We
can also think of two earlier global events: the Addis Ababa Summit
for funding sustainable development worldwide and the adoption of the
United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at
ensuring a more dignified standard of living for all the world’s
peoples, especially the poor, by that year.
For the Church, 2015 was a special
year, since it marked the fiftieth anniversary of two documents of
the Second Vatican Council which eloquently expressed her sense of
solidarity with the world. Pope John XXIII, at the beginning of the
Council, wanted to open wide the windows of the Church and to improve
her communication with the world. The two documents, Nostra Aetate
and Gaudium et Spes, are emblematic of the new relationship of
dialogue, solidarity and accompaniment which the Church sought to
awaken within the human family. In the Declaration Nostra Aetate, the
Church expressed her openness to dialogue with non-Christian
religions. In the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, based on a
recognition that “the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the
people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted,
are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of
Christ as well”, the Church proposed to enter into dialogue with
the entire human family about the problems of our world, as a sign of
solidarity, respect and affection.
Along these same lines, with the
present Jubilee of Mercy I want to invite the Church to pray and work
so that every Christian will have a humble and compassionate heart,
one capable of proclaiming and witnessing to mercy. It is my hope
that all of us will learn to “forgive and give”, to become more
open “to those living on the outermost fringes of society –
fringes which modern society itself creates”, and to refuse to fall
into “a humiliating indifference or a monotonous routine which
prevents us from discovering what is new! Let us ward off destructive
cynicism!”
There are many good reasons to believe
in mankind’s capacity to act together in solidarity and, on the
basis of our interconnection and interdependence, to demonstrate
concern for the more vulnerable of our brothers and sisters and for
the protection of the common good. This attitude of mutual
responsibility is rooted in our fundamental vocation to fraternity
and a life in common. Personal dignity and interpersonal
relationships are what constitute us as human beings whom God willed
to create in his own image and likeness. As creatures endowed with
inalienable dignity, we are related to all our brothers and sisters,
for whom we are responsible and with whom we act in solidarity.
Lacking this relationship, we would be less human. We see, then, how
indifference represents a menace to the human family. As we approach
a new year, I would ask everyone to take stock of this reality, in
order to overcome indifference and to win peace.
Kinds of indifference
3. Clearly, indifference is not
something new; every period of history has known people who close
their hearts to the needs of others, who close their eyes to what is
happening around them, who turn aside to avoid encountering other
people's problems. But in our day, indifference has ceased to be a
purely personal matter and has taken on broader dimensions, producing
a certain “globalisation of indifference”.
The first kind of indifference in human
society is indifference to God, which then leads to indifference to
one’s neighbour and to the environment. This is one of the grave
consequences of a false humanism and practical materialism allied to
relativism and nihilism. We have come to to think that we are the
source and creator of ourselves, our lives and society. We feel
self-sufficient, prepared not only to find a substitute for God but
to do completely without him. As a consequence, we feel that we owe
nothing to anyone but ourselves, and we claim only rights. Against
this erroneous understanding of the person, Pope Benedict XVI
observed that neither man himself nor human development can, on their
own, answer the question of our ultimate meaning. Paul VI likewise
stated that “there is no true humanism but that which is open to
the Absolute, and is conscious of a vocation which gives human life
its authentic significance”.
Indifference to our neighbour shows
itself in different ways. Some people are well-informed; they listen
to the radio, read the newspapers or watch television, but they do so
mechanically and without engagement. They are vaguely aware of the
tragedies afflicting humanity, but they have no sense of involvement
or compassion. Theirs is the attitude of those who know, but keep
their gaze, their thoughts and their actions focused on themselves.
Sadly, it must be said that today’s information explosion does not
of itself lead to an increased concern for other people’s problems,
which demands openness and a sense of solidarity. Indeed, the
information glut can numb people’s sensibilities and to some degree
downplay the gravity of the problems. There are those who “simply
content themselves with blaming the poor and the poor countries
themselves for their troubles; indulging in unwarranted
generalisations, they claim that the solution is an ‘education’
that would tranquillise them, making them tame and harmless. All this
becomes even more exasperating for the marginalised in the light of
the widespread and deeply rooted corruption found in many countries –
in their governments, businesses and institutions – whatever the
political ideology of their leaders.”
In other cases, indifference shows
itself in lack of concern for what is happening around us, especially
if it does not touch us directly. Some people prefer not to ask
questions or seek answers; they lead lives of comfort, deaf to the
cry of those who suffer. Almost imperceptibly, we grow incapable of
feeling compassion for others and for their problems; we have no
interest in caring for them, as if their troubles were their own
responsibility, and none of our business. “When we are healthy and
comfortable, we forget about others (something God the Father never
does): we are unconcerned with their problems, their sufferings and
the injustices they endure… Our heart grows cold. As long as I am
relatively healthy and comfortable, I don’t think about those less
well off.”
Because we dwell in a common home, we
cannot help but ask ourselves about the state of its health, as I
sought to do in Laudato Si’. Water and air pollution, the
indiscriminate exploitation of forests and the destruction of the
natural environment are often the result of man’s indifference to
man, since everything is interrelated. Then too, there is the way we
treat animals, which has an effect on the way we treat other people,
and the cases where people freely do elsewhere what they would never
dare do at home.
In these and in other situations,
indifference leads to self-absorption and a lack of commitment. It
thus contributes to the absence of peace with God, with our neighbour
and with the environment.
Peace threatened by globalised
indifference
4. Indifference towards God transcends
the purely private sphere of the individual and affects the public
and social sphere. As Benedict XVI pointed out, “the glorification
of God and human peace on earth are closely linked”. Indeed,
“without openness to the transcendent, human beings easily become
prey to relativism and find it difficult to act justly and to work
for peace. Disregard and the denial of God, which lead man to
acknowledge no norm above himself and himself alone, have produced
untold cruelty and violence.
On both the individual and
communitarian levels, indifference to one’s neighbour, born of
indifference to God, finds expression in disinterest and a lack of
engagement, which only help to prolong situations of injustice and
grave social imbalance. These in turn can lead to conflicts or, in
any event, generate a climate of dissatisfaction which risks
exploding sooner or later into acts of violence and insecurity.
Indifference and lack of commitment
constitute a grave dereliction of the duty whereby each of us must
work in accordance with our abilities and our role in society for the
promotion of the common good, and in particular for peace, which is
one of mankind’s most precious goods.
On the institutional level,
indifference to others and to their dignity, their fundamental rights
and their freedom, when it is part of a culture shaped by the pursuit
of profit and hedonism, can foster and even justify actions and
policies which ultimately represent threats to peace. Indifference
can even lead to justifying deplorable economic policies which breed
injustice, division and violence for the sake of ensuring the
well-being of individuals or nations. Not infrequently, economic and
political projects aim at securing or maintaining power and wealth,
even at the cost of trampling on the basic rights and needs of
others. When people witness the denial of their elementary rights,
such as the right to food, water, health care or employment, they are
tempted to obtain them by force.
Moreover, indifference to the natural
environment, by countenancing deforestation, pollution and natural
catastrophes which uproot entire communities from their ecosystem and
create profound insecurity, ends up creating new forms of poverty and
new situations of injustice, often with dire consequences for
security and peace. How many wars have been fought, and how many will
continue to be fought, over a shortage of goods or out of an
insatiable thirst for natural resources?
From indifference to mercy: the
conversion of hearts
5. One year ago, in my Message for the
2015 World Day of Peace, with the motto “No Longer Slaves, but
Brothers and Sisters”, I evoked the first biblical icon of human
brotherhood, that of Cain and Abel. I meant to draw attract attention
to how from the very beginning this original brotherhood was
betrayed. Cain and Abel were brothers. Both came forth from the same
womb, they were equal in dignity and created in the image and
likeness of God; but their relationship as brothers was destroyed.
“It was not only that Cain could not stand Abel; he killed him out
of envy.” Fratricide was the form of betrayal, and Cain’s refusal
to acknowledge Abel as his brother became the first rupture in the
family relations of fraternity, solidarity and mutual respect.
God then intervened to remind man of
his responsibility towards his fellows, as He had also done when Adam
and Eve, our first parents, ruptured their relationship with him,
their Creator. “Then the Lord said to Cain: “Where is Abel your
brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”
But the Lord replied: “What you have you done? The voice of your
brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground”.
Cain said he did not know what had
happened to his brother, that he was not his brother’s keeper. He
did not feel responsible for his life, for his fate. He did not feel
involved. He was indifferent to his brother, despite their common
origin. How sad! What a sorry tale of brothers, of families, of human
beings! This was the first display of indifference between brothers.
God, however, is not indifferent. Abel’s blood had immense value in
His eyes, and He asked Cain to give an account of it. At the origin
of the human race, God shows Himself to be involved in man’s
destiny. Later, when the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt, God
once more intervened to tell Moses: “I have seen the affliction of
my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their
taskmasters; I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of
that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and
honey”. We should note the verbs which describe God’s
intervention: He sees, hears, knows, comes down and delivers. God
does not remain indifferent. He is attentive and He acts.
In the same way, in Jesus His Son, God
has come down among us. He took flesh and showed His solidarity with
humanity in all things but sin. Jesus identified with us: He became
“the first-born among many brethren”. He was not content merely
to teach the crowds, but He was concerned for their welfare,
especially when He saw them hungry or without work. He was concerned
not only for men and women, but also for the fish of the sea, the
birds of the air, plants and trees, all things great and small. He
saw and embraced all of creation. But He did more than just see; He
touched people’s lives, He spoke to them, helped them and showed
kindness to those in need. Not only this, but He felt strong emotions
and He wept. And He worked to put an end to suffering, sorrow, misery
and death.
Jesus taught us to be merciful like our
heavenly Father. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, He condemned
those who fail to help others in need, those who “pass by on the
other side”. By this example, He taught His listeners, and His
disciples in particular, to stop and to help alleviate the sufferings
of this world and the pain of our brothers and sisters, using
whatever means are at hand, beginning with our own time, however busy
we may be. Indifference often seeks excuses: observing ritual
prescriptions, looking to all the things needing to be done, hiding
behind hostilities and prejudices which keep us apart.
Mercy is the heart of God. It must also
be the heart of the members of the one great family of his children:
a heart which beats all the more strongly wherever human dignity –
as a reflection of the face of God in his creatures – is in play.
Jesus tells us that love for others – foreigners, the sick,
prisoners, the homeless, even our enemies – is the yardstick by
which God will judge our actions. Our eternal destiny depends on
this. It is not surprising that the Apostle Paul tells the Christians
of Rome to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who
weep, or that he encourages the Corinthians to take up collections as
a sign of solidarity with the suffering members of the Church. And
St. John writes: “If any one has the world’s goods and sees his
brother or sister in need, yet refuses help, how does God’s love
abide in him?.
This then is why “it is absolutely
essential for the Church and for the credibility of her message that
she herself live and testify to mercy. Her language and her gestures
must transmit mercy, so as to touch the hearts of all people and
inspire them once more to find the road that leads to the Father. The
Church’s first truth is the love of Christ. The Church makes
herself a servant of this love and mediates it to all people: a love
that forgives and expresses itself in the gift of oneself.
Consequently, wherever the Church is present, the mercy of the Father
must be evident. In our parishes, communities, associations and
movements, in a word, wherever there are Christians, everyone should
find an oasis of mercy.”
We too, then, are called to make
compassion, love, mercy and solidarity a true way of life, a rule of
conduct in our relationships with one another. This requires the
conversion of our hearts: the grace of God has to turn our hearts of
stone into hearts of flesh, open to others in authentic solidarity.
For solidarity is much more than a “feeling of vague compassion or
shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and
far”. Solidarity is “a firm and persevering determination to
commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all
and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for
all”, because compassion flows from fraternity.
Understood in this way, solidarity
represents the moral and social attitude which best corresponds to an
awareness of the scourges of our own day, and to the growing
interdependence, especially in a globalised world, between the lives
of given individuals and communities and those of other men and women
in the rest of the world.
Building a culture of solidarity and
mercy to overcome indifference
6. Solidarity, as a moral virtue and
social attitude born of personal conversion, calls for commitment on
the part of those responsible for education and formation.
I think first of families, which are
called to a primary and vital mission of education. Families are the
first place where the values of love and fraternity, togetherness and
sharing, concern and care for others are lived out and handed on.
They are also the privileged milieu for transmitting the faith,
beginning with those first simple gestures of devotion which mothers
teach their children.
Teachers, who have the challenging task
of training children and youth in schools or other settings, should
be conscious that their responsibility extends also to the moral,
spiritual and social aspects of life. The values of freedom, mutual
respect and solidarity can be handed on from a tender age. Speaking
to educators, Pope Benedict XVI noted that: “Every educational
setting can be a place of openness to the transcendent and to others;
a place of dialogue, cohesiveness and attentive listening, where
young people feel appreciated for their personal abilities and inner
riches, and can learn to esteem their brothers and sisters. May young
people be taught to savour the joy which comes from the daily
exercise of charity and compassion towards others and from taking an
active part in the building of a more humane and fraternal society”.
Communicators also have a
responsibility for education and formation, especially nowadays, when
the means of information and communication are so widespread. Their
duty is first and foremost to serve the truth, and not particular
interests. For the media “not only inform but also form the minds
of their audiences, and so they can make a significant contribution
to the education of young people. It is important never to forget
that the connection between education and communication is extremely
close: education takes place through communication, which influences,
for better or worse, the formation of the person.”
Communicators should also be mindful
that the way in which information is obtained and made public should
always be legally and morally admissible.
Peace: the fruit of a culture of
solidarity, mercy and compassion
7. While conscious of the threat posed
by a globalisation of indifference, we should also recognise that, in
the scenario I have just described, there are also many positive
initiatives which testify to the compassion, mercy and solidarity of
which we are capable.
Here I would offer some examples of
praiseworthy commitment, which demonstrate how all of us can overcome
indifference in choosing not to close our eyes to our neighbour.
These represent good practices on the way to a more humane society.
There are many non-governmental and
charitable organisations, both within and outside the Church, whose
members, amidst epidemics, disasters and armed conflicts, brave
difficulties and dangers in caring for the injured and sick, and in
burying the dead. I would also mention those individuals and
associations which assist migrants who cross deserts and seas in
search of a better life. These efforts are spiritual and corporal
works of mercy on which we will be judged at the end of our lives.
I think also of the journalists and
photographers who shape public opinion on difficult situations which
trouble our consciences, and all those devoted to the defence of
human rights, especially the rights of ethnic and religious
minorities, indigenous peoples, women and children, and the most
vulnerable of our brothers and sisters. Among them are also many
priests and missionaries who, as good pastors, remain at the side of
their flock and support them, heedless of danger and hardship,
especially during armed conflicts.
How many families, amid occupational
and social difficulties, make great sacrifices to provide their
children with a “counter-cultural” education in the values of
solidarity, compassion and fraternity! How many families open their
hearts and homes to those in need, such as refugees and migrants! I
wish to thank in a particular way all those individuals, families,
parishes, religious communities, monasteries and shrines who readily
responded to my appeal to welcome a refugee family.
Finally, I would mention those young
people who join in undertaking works of solidarity, and all those who
generously help their neighbours in need in their cities and
countries and elsewhere in the world. I thank and encourage everyone
engaged in such efforts, which often pass unobserved. Their hunger
and thirst for justice will be satisfied, their mercy will lead them
to find mercy and, as peacemakers, they will be called children of
God.
Peace in the sign of the Jubilee of
Mercy
8. In the spirit of the Jubilee of
Mercy, all of us are called to realise how indifference can manifest
itself in our lives and to work concretely to improve the world
around us, beginning with our families, neighbours and places of
employment.
Civil society is likewise called to
make specific and courageous gestures of concern for their most
vulnerable members, such as prisoners, migrants, the unemployed and
the infirm.
With regard to prisoners, it would
appear that in many cases practical measures are urgently needed to
improve their living conditions, with particular concern for those
detained while awaiting trial. It must be kept in mind that penal
sanctions have the aim of rehabilitation, while national laws should
consider the possibility of other establishing penalties than
incarceration. In this context, I would like once more to appeal to
governmental authorities to abolish the death penalty where it is
still in force, and to consider the possibility of an amnesty.
With regard to migrants, I would ask
that legislation on migration be reviewed, so, while respecting
reciprocal rights and responsibilities, it can reflect a readiness to
welcome migrants and to facilitate their integration. Special concern
should be paid to the conditions for legal residency, since having to
live clandestinely can lead to criminal behaviour.
In this Jubilee Year, I would also
appeal to national leaders for concrete gestures in favour of our
brothers and sisters who suffer from the lack of labour, land and
lodging. I am thinking of the creation of dignified jobs to combat
the social plague of unemployment, which affects many families and
young people, with grave effects for society as a whole. Unemployment
takes a heavy toll on people’s sense of dignity and hope, and can
only be partially compensated for by welfare benefits, however
necessary these may be, provided to the unemployed and their
families. Special attention needs to be given to women – who
unfortunately still encounter discrimination in the workplace – and
to some categories of workers whose conditions are precarious or
dangerous, and whose pay is not commensurate to the importance of
their social mission.
Finally, I express my hope that
effective steps will be taken to improve the living conditions of the
sick by ensuring that all have access to medical treatment and
pharmaceuticals essential for life, as well as the possibility of
home care.
Looking beyond their own borders,
national leaders are also called to renew their relations with other
peoples and to enable their real participation and inclusion in the
life of the international community, in order to ensure fraternity
within the family of nations as well.
With this in mind, I would like to make
a threefold appeal to the leaders of nations: to refrain from drawing
other peoples into conflicts or wars which destroy not only their
material, cultural and social legacy, but also – and in the long
term – their moral and spiritual integrity; to forgive or manage in
a sustainable way the international debt of the poorer nations; and
to adopt policies of cooperation which, instead of bowing before the
dictatorship of certain ideologies, will respect the values of local
populations and, in any case, not prove detrimental to the
fundamental and inalienable right to life of the unborn.
I entrust these reflections, together
with my best wishes for the New Year, to the intercession of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother, who cares for the needs of our human
family, that she may obtain from her Son Jesus, the Prince of Peace,
the granting of our prayers and the blessing of our daily efforts for
a fraternal and united world”.
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