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1. “Peace be to this house!”
In sending his disciples forth on mission, Jesus told
them: “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a
son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall
return to you” (Lk 10:5-6).
Bringing peace is central to the mission of Christ’s
disciples. That peace is offered to all those men and women who long for peace
amid the tragedies and violence that mark human history.[1]The “house” of which
Jesus speaks is every family, community, country and continent, in all their
diversity and history. It is first and foremost each individual person, without
distinction or discrimination. But it is also our “common home”: the world in
which God has placed us and which we are called to care for and cultivate.
So let this be my greeting at the beginning of the New
Year: “Peace be to this house!”
2. The challenge of good politics
Peace is like the hope which the poet Charles Péguy
celebrated.[2] It is like a delicate flower struggling to blossom on the stony
ground of violence. We know that the thirst for power at any price leads to
abuses and injustice. Politics is an essential means of building human
community and institutions, but when political life is not seen as a form of
service to society as a whole, it can become a means of oppression,
marginalization and even destruction.
Jesus tells us that, “if anyone would be first, he must
be last of all and servant of all” (Mk 9:35). In the words of Pope Paul VI, “to
take politics seriously at its different levels – local, regional, national and
worldwide – is to affirm the duty of each individual to acknowledge the reality
and value of the freedom offered him to work at one and the same time for the
good of the city, the nation and all mankind”.[3]
Political office and political responsibility thus
constantly challenge those called to the service of their country to make every
effort to protect those who live there and to create the conditions for a
worthy and just future. If exercised with basic respect for the life, freedom
and dignity of persons, political life can indeed become an outstanding form of
charity.
3. Charity and human virtues: the basis of politics at
the service of human rights and peace
Pope Benedict XVI noted that “every Christian is called
to practise charity in a manner corresponding to his vocation and according to
the degree of influence he wields in the pólis… When animated by charity,
commitment to the common good has greater worth than a merely secular and
political stand would have… Man’s earthly activity, when inspired and sustained
by charity, contributes to the building of the universal city of God, which is
the goal of the history of the human family”.[4] This is a programme on which
all politicians, whatever their culture or religion, can agree, if they wish to
work together for the good of the human family and to practise those human
virtues that sustain all sound political activity: justice, equality, mutual
respect, sincerity, honesty, fidelity.
In this regard, it may be helpful to recall the
“Beatitudes of the Politician”, proposed by Vietnamese Cardinal François-Xavier
Nguy?n Vãn Thu?n, a faithful witness to the Gospel who died in 2002:
Blessed be the politician with a lofty sense and deep
understanding of his role.
Blessed be the politician who personally exemplifies
credibility.
Blessed be the politician who works for the common good
and not his or her own interest.
Blessed be the politician who remains consistent.
Blessed be the politician who works for unity.
Blessed be the politician who works to accomplish
radical change.
Blessed be the politician who is capable of listening.
Blessed be the politician who is without fear.[5]
Every election and re-election, and every stage of
public life, is an opportunity to return to the original points of reference
that inspire justice and law. One thing is certain: good politics is at the
service of peace. It respects and promotes fundamental human rights, which are
at the same time mutual obligations, enabling a bond of trust and gratitude to
be forged between present and future generations.
4. Political vices
Sadly, together with its virtues, politics also has its
share of vices, whether due to personal incompetence or to flaws in the system
and its institutions. Clearly, these vices detract from the credibility of
political life overall, as well as the authority, decisions and actions of
those engaged in it. These vices, which undermine the ideal of an authentic
democracy, bring disgrace to public life and threaten social harmony. We think
of corruption in its varied forms: the misappropriation of public resources,
the exploitation of individuals, the denial of rights, the flouting of
community rules, dishonest gain, the justification of power by force or the
arbitrary appeal to raison d’état and the refusal to relinquish power. To which
we can add xenophobia, racism, lack of concern for the natural environment, the
plundering of natural resources for the sake of quick profit and contempt for
those forced into exile.
5. Good politics promotes the participation of the
young and trust in others
When the exercise of political power aims only at
protecting the interests of a few privileged individuals, the future is
compromised and young people can be tempted to lose confidence, since they are
relegated to the margins of society without the possibility of helping to build
the future. But when politics concretely fosters the talents of young people
and their aspirations, peace grows in their outlook and on their faces. It becomes
a confident assurance that says, “I trust you and with you I believe” that we
can all work together for the common good. Politics is at the service of peace
if it finds expression in the recognition of the gifts and abilities of each
individual. “What could be more beautiful than an outstretched hand? It was
meant by God to offer and to receive. God did not want it to kill (cf. Gen
4:1ff) or to inflict suffering, but to offer care and help in life. Together
with our heart and our intelligence, our hands too can become a means of
dialogue”.[6]
Everyone can contribute his or her stone to help build
the common home. Authentic political life, grounded in law and in frank and
fair relations between individuals, experiences renewal whenever we are
convinced that every woman, man and generation brings the promise of new
relational, intellectual, cultural and spiritual energies. That kind of trust
is never easy to achieve, because human relations are complex, especially in
our own times, marked by a climate of mistrust rooted in the fear of others or
of strangers, or anxiety about one’s personal security. Sadly, it is also seen
at the political level, in attitudes of rejection or forms of nationalism that
call into question the fraternity of which our globalized world has such great
need. Today more than ever, our societies need “artisans of peace” who can be
messengers and authentic witnesses of God the Father, who wills the good and
the happiness of the human family.
6. No to war and to the strategy of fear
A hundred years after the end of the First World War,
as we remember the young people killed in those battles and the civilian
populations torn apart, we are more conscious than ever of the terrible lesson
taught by fratricidal wars: peace can never be reduced solely to a balance
between power and fear. To threaten others is to lower them to the status of
objects and to deny their dignity. This is why we state once more that an
escalation of intimidation, and the uncontrolled proliferation of arms, is contrary
to morality and the search for true peace. Terror exerted over those who are
most vulnerable contributes to the exile of entire populations who seek a place
of peace. Political addresses that tend to blame every evil on migrants and to
deprive the poor of hope are unacceptable. Rather, there is a need to reaffirm
that peace is based on respect for each person, whatever his or her background,
on respect for the law and the common good, on respect for the environment
entrusted to our care and for the richness of the moral tradition inherited
from past generations.
Our thoughts turn in a particular way to all those
children currently living in areas of conflict, and to all those who work to
protect their lives and defend their rights. One out of every six children in
our world is affected by the violence of war or its effects, even when they are
not enrolled as child soldiers or held hostage by armed groups. The witness
given by those who work to defend them and their dignity is most precious for
the future of humanity.
7. A great project of peace
In these days, we celebrate the seventieth anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in the wake of the Second
World War. In this context, let us also remember the observation of Pope John
XXIII: “Man’s awareness of his rights must inevitably lead him to the
recognition of his duties. The possession of rights involves the duty of
implementing those rights, for they are the expression of a man’s personal
dignity. And the possession of rights also involves their recognition and respect
by others”.[7]
Peace, in effect, is the fruit of a great political
project grounded in the mutual responsibility and interdependence of human
beings. But it is also a challenge that demands to be taken up ever anew. It
entails a conversion of heart and soul; it is both interior and communal; and
it has three inseparable aspects:
- peace with oneself, rejecting inflexibility, anger
and impatience; in the words of Saint Francis de Sales, showing “a bit of
sweetness towards oneself” in order to offer “a bit of sweetness to others”;
- peace with others: family members, friends,
strangers, the poor and the suffering, being unafraid to encounter them and
listen to what they have to say;
- peace with all creation, rediscovering the grandeur
of God’s gift and our individual and shared responsibility as inhabitants of
this world, citizens and builders of the future.
The politics of peace, conscious of and deeply
concerned for every situation of human vulnerability, can always draw
inspiration from the Magnificat, the hymn that Mary, the Mother of Christ the
Saviour and Queen of Peace, sang in the name of all mankind: “He has mercy on
those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm;
he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from
their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly; …for he has remembered his promise
of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for
ever” (Lk 1:50-55).
From the Vatican, 8 December 2018
Francis
[1] Cf. Lk 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace among men with whom he is pleased”.
[2] Cf. Le Porche du mystère de la deuxième vertu,
Paris, 1986.
[3] Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens (14 May
1971), 46.
[4] Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June
2009), 7.
[5] Cf. Address at the “Civitas” Exhibition-Convention
in Padua: “30 Giorni”, no. 5, 2002.
[6] BENEDICT XVI, Address to the Authorities of Benin, Cotonou, 19 November 2011.
[7] Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris (11 April 1963), ed. Carlen, 24.
Source: www.vatican.va