Non violence is a weapon for peace – ?The Pope once again calls to abolish the death penalty, to forgive debt in poor countries and to remove walls of indifference

Pope Francis called for “the active
witness of non-violence” to work “as a ‘weapon’ to achieve peace” in his
message to a conference organized by the Pontifical Council for Justice and
Peace as well as by Pax Christi International on Monday afternoon, 11 April.
The message was read aloud by Cardinal
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, President by the dicastery, at the opening session
of the conference, which will conclude on 13 April. The following is the
English text of the message.

Your Eminence,

I am delighted to convey my most cordial
greetings to you and to all the participants in the Conference on Nonviolence
and Just Peace: Contributing to the Catholic Understanding of and Commitment to
Nonviolence, which will take place in Rome from the 11th to 13th of April 2016.

This
encounter, jointly organized by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and
Pax Christi International, takes on a very special character and value during
the Jubilee Year of Mercy. In effect, mercy is “a source of joy, serenity and
peace”, a peace which is essentially interior and flows from reconciliation
with the Lord. Nevertheless, the participants’ reflections must also take into
account the current circumstances in the world at large and the historical
moment in which the Conference is taking place, and of course these factors
also heighten expectations for the Conference.

In
order to seek solutions to the unique and terrible ‘world war in instalments’
which, directly or indirectly, a large part of humankind is presently
undergoing, it helps us to think back in time. Let us rediscover the reasons
that led the sons and daughters of a still largely Christian civilization in
the last century to create the Pax Christi Movement and the Pontifical Council
for Justice and Peace. From their example we learn that to bring about true
peace, it is necessary to bring people together concretely so as to reconcile
peoples and groups with opposing ideological positions. It is also necessary to
work together for what persons, families, peoples and nations feel is their
right, namely, to participate on a social, political and economic level in the
goods of the modern world. Further, the “unceasing effort on the part of that
higher creative imagination which we call diplomacy” must be continuously
nourished; and justice in a globalized world, which is “order in freedom and
conscious duty”, must constantly be promoted. In a word, humanity needs to
refurbish all the best available tools to help the men and women of today to
fulfil their aspirations for justice and peace.

Accordingly, your thoughts on revitalising the
tools of non-violence, and of active non-violence in particular, will be a
needed and positive contribution. This is what as participants in the Rome
Conference you propose to do. In this message I would like to remind you of
some further points which are especially of concern to me.

The
basic premise is that the ultimate and most deeply worthy goal of human beings
and of the human community is the abolition of war. In this vein, we recall
that the only explicit condemnation issued by the Second Vatican Council was
against war, although the Council recognized that, since war has not been
eradicated from the human condition, “governments cannot be denied the right to
legitimate defence once every means of peaceful settlement has been exhausted”.

Another cornerstone is to recognize that
“conflict cannot be ignored or concealed. It has to be faced”. Of course, the
purpose is not to remain trapped within a framework of conflict, thus losing
our overall perspective and our sense of the profound unity of reality. Rather,
we must accept and tackle conflict so as to resolve it and transform it into a
link in that new process which “peacemakers” initiate.

As
Christians, we also know that it is only by considering our peers as brothers
and sisters that we will overcome wars and conflicts. The Church tirelessly
repeats that this is true not merely at an individual level but also at the
level of peoples and nations, for it truly regards the International Community
as the “Family of Nations”. That is why, in this year’s Message for the World
Day of Peace, I made an appeal to States’ leaders 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”.

Furthermore, we know as Christians that, in
order to make this happen, the greatest obstacle to be removed is the wall of
indifference. Recent history justifies using the word ‘wall’ not in a
figurative sense alone, for unhappily it is an all too tangible reality. This
phenomenon of indifference touches not only our fellow human beings but also
the natural environment, with often disastrous consequences in terms of
security and social peace.

Nevertheless, we can succeed in overcoming
indifference — but only if, in imitation of the Father, we are able to show
mercy. Such mercy is so to speak ‘political’ because it is expressed in
solidarity, which is the moral and social attitude that responds best to the
awareness of the scourges of our time and of the inter-dependence of life at
its different levels — the connections between an individual life, the family,
and the local and global community.

In
our complex and violent world, it is truly a formidable undertaking to work for
peace by living the practice of non-violence! Equally daunting is the aim of
achieving full disarmament “by reaching people’s very souls”, building bridges,
fighting fear and pursuing open and sincere dialogue. The practice of dialogue
is in fact difficult. We must be prepared for give and take. We must not assume
that the others are wrong. Instead, accepting our differences and remaining
true to our positions, we must seek the good of all; and, after having finally
found agreement, we must firmly maintain it.

We
can joyfully anticipate an abundance of cultural differences and varied life
experiences among the participants in the Rome Conference, and these will only
enhance the exchanges and contribute to the renewal of the active witness of
non-violence as a “weapon” to achieve peace.

Finally,
I would like to invite all those present to support two requests I addressed to
governmental authorities in this Jubilee Year: to abolish the death penalty
where it is still in force, and to consider the possibility of an amnesty; and
to forgive or manage in a sustainable way the international debt of the poorer
nations.

I
warmly wish Your Eminence and all the participants fruitful and successful
labours, and I extend to you all my Apostolic Blessing.

Francis