VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXV - # 224
DATE 15-12-2015
Summary:
- Overcome indifference and win peace: the Pope's Message for the 49th World
Day
of Peace
- Presentation of the Message for World Day of Peace 2016
- Decrees for the Causes of Saints
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
___________________________________________________________
Overcome indifference and win peace: the Pope's Message for the 49th World Day
of Peace
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 æeducation' 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
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* Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)
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