Peace
“To cultivate nonviolence in our most personal thoughts and values”: this is the invitation contained in Pope Francis’ Message for the World Day of Peace which will be celebrated on 1 January 2017 on the theme “Nonviolence: A Style of Politics for Peace”. At the beginning of his message released today, Pope Francis offers his “wishes of peace” to “the world’s peoples and nations, to heads of state and government, and to religious, civic and community leaders” as well as to “every man, woman and child”, calling on everyone to respect their dignity “especially in situations of conflict”. “May charity and nonviolence govern how we treat each other as individuals”, the Pope writes, because “when victims of violence are able to resist the temptation to retaliate, they become the most credible promoters of nonviolent peacemaking”. “In the most local and ordinary situations and in the international order, may nonviolence become the hallmark of our decisions, our relationships and our actions, and indeed of political life in all its forms” is the appeal of Pope Francis who, in his 50th Message for the World Day of Peace, cites the first message by Blessed Paul VI who addressed “all peoples, not simply Catholics” with “utter clarity” stressing that “peace is the only true direction of human progress – and not the tensions caused by ambitious nationalisms, nor conquests by violence, nor repressions which serve as mainstay for a false civil order”. Pope Montini echoed the words of his predecessor, John XXIII, who in his encyclical Pacem in Terris had extolled “the sense and love of peace founded upon truth, justice, freedom and love”. “In the intervening fifty years, these words have lost none of their significance or urgency”, Pope Francis remarked.
