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Skriven 2005-01-13 10:31:28 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service - Press Release
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              The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                        Vatican Information Service.
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                               VIS-Press releases

MANKIND IS WRACKED BY TROUBLES, BUT HEARTENED BY HOPE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 10, 2005 (VIS) - This morning at 11 in the Regia Hall, John
Paul II met with the members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See
for an exchange of New Year's greetings and for his annual "state of the world"
address. Given in French, the Pope's speech was also made available in English,
Spanish and Italian. His talk followed greetings by Ambassador Giovanni Galassi
of San Marino, dean of the diplomatic corps.

In his welcome, the Pope had special words for the 37 new ambassadors who
presented their Letters of Credence during the past year.

He added that his sentiments of joy at today's meeting "are overshadowed,
unfortunately, by the enormous catastrophe which on December 26 struck
different countries of Southeast Asia and as far as the coasts of East Africa.
It made for a painful ending of the year just past: a year troubled also by
other natural calamities, such as the devastating cyclones in the Indian Ocean
and the Antilles, and the plague of locusts which desolated vast regions of
Northwest Africa. Other tragedies also cast a shadow on 2004, like the acts of
barbarous terrorism which caused bloodshed in Iraq and other countries of the
world, the savage attack in Madrid, the terrorist massacre in Beslan, the
inhuman acts of violence inflicted on the people of Darfur, the atrocities
perpetrated in the Great Lakes region of Africa."

The Holy Father told the diplomats that their presence "immediately sets before
our eyes the great tableau of humanity with its grave and troubling problems
and its great and undampened hopes. The Catholic Church, because of her
universal nature, is always directly engaged in the great causes for which the
men and women of our age struggle and hope."

He then quoted his Message for World Day of Peace 2005, saying its theme - "Do
not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good" - was the message he wished
to leave them today because it "has a specific application to international
relations, and it can be a guide to all in meeting the great challenges facing
humanity today," principally the challenge of life, the challenge of food, the
challenge of peace and that of freedom.

Regarding the challenge of life, Pope John Paul said: "The Church is called to
proclaim 'the Gospel of Life'. And the State has as its primary task precisely
the safeguarding and promotion of human life. ... Conflicting views have been
put forward regarding abortion, assisted procreation, the use of human
embryonic stem cells for scientific research, and cloning. The Church's
position, supported by reason and science, is clear: the human embryo is a
subject identical to the human being which will be born at the term of its
development. Consequently whatever violates the integrity and the dignity of
the embryo is ethically inadmissible. Similarly, any form of scientific
research which treats the embryo merely as a laboratory specimen is unworthy of
man."

There is also a challenge to the family, he said, noting that today "the family
is often threatened by social and cultural pressures which tend to undermine
its stability; but in some countries the family is also threatened by
legislation which - at times directly - challenge its natural structure, which
is and must necessarily be that of a union between a man and a woman founded on
marriage."

On the challenge of food, the Pope stated: "This world, made wondrously
fruitful by its Creator, possesses a sufficient quantity and variety of food
for all its inhabitants, now and in the future. Yet the statistics on world
hunger are dramatic: hundreds of millions of human beings are suffering from
grave malnutrition, and each year millions of children die of hunger or its
effects." Much has been done, he added, "yet all this is not enough. An
adequate response to this need, which is growing in scale and urgency, calls
for a vast moral mobilization of public opinion; the same applies all the more
to political leaders, especially in those countries enjoying a sufficient or
even prosperous standard of living."

Turning to the challenge of peace, the Holy Father pointed out that "peace is
the dream of every generation. Yet how many wars and armed conflicts continue
to take place - between States, ethnic groups, peoples and groups living in the
same territory. From one end of the world to the other, they are claiming
countless innocent victims and spawning so many other evils! ... In addition to
these tragic evils there is the brutal, inhuman phenomenon of terrorism, a
scourge which has taken on a global dimension unknown to previous generations.

"Like my venerable predecessors," he affirmed, "I have spoken out countless
times, in public statements - especially in my annual Message for the World Day
of Peace - and through the Holy See's diplomatic activity, and I shall continue
to do so, pointing out the paths to peace and urging that they be followed with
courage and patience. The arrogance of power must be countered with reason,
force with dialogue, pointed weapons with outstretched hands, evil with good."

He said that "there are some encouraging signs that the great challenge of
building peace can be met," especially in Africa and the Middle East, adding
that "certainly an outstanding example of the possibility of peace can be seen
in Europe: nations which were once fierce enemies locked in deadly wars are now
members of the European Union."

"God loves mankind, and he wants peace for all men and women. We are asked to
be active instruments of that peace, and to overcome evil with good."

Pope John Paul then turned to the challenge of freedom, telling the diplomats:
"All of you know how important this is to me, especially because of the history
of my native people, yet it is also important to each of you. ... Yet freedom
is first and foremost a right of each individual. As the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights fittingly states in Article 1 - 'all human beings are born free
and equal in dignity and rights'. Article 3 goes on to state that 'everyone has
the right to life, liberty and security of person'. Certainly the freedom of
States is also sacred; they need to be free, above all so that they can carry
out adequately their fundamental duty of safeguarding both the life and the
freedom of their citizens in all their legitimate manifestations."

"At the very heart of human freedom is the right to religious freedom, since it
deals with man's most fundamental relationship: his relationship with God. ...
In many States, freedom of religion is a right which is not yet sufficiently or
adequately recognized. ... Consequently I repeat today an appeal which the
Church has already made on numerous occasions: 'It is necessary that religious
freedom be everywhere provided with an effective constitutional guarantee, and
that respect be shown for the high duty and right of man freely to lead his
religious life in society'.

"There need be no fear that legitimate religious freedom would limit other
freedoms or be injurious to the life of civil society. On the contrary:
together with religious freedom, all other freedoms develop and thrive. ...
Neither should there be a fear that religious freedom, once granted to the
Catholic Church, would intrude upon the realm of political freedom and the
competencies proper to the State: the Church is able carefully to distinguish,
as she must, what belongs to Caesar from what belongs to God."
AC/NEW YEAR:DIPLOMATIC CORPS/...VIS 050110 (1270)

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