Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
January 9, 2002
Pope urges believers to work for peace, promote forgiveness
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While world events make it difficult to look toward the future with hope, those who believe in God must use every opportunity to promote peace in the certainty that evil will not prevail, Pope John Paul II said.
At his Jan. 1 Mass marking the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and World Peace Day, the pope made a special appeal for an end to hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians.
"`The voice of blood' cries to God from that land; the blood of brothers spilled by brothers who recognize the patriarch Abraham; sons, like every man, of the same heavenly Father," he said.
Pope John Paul said that, believing in the same God, Christians, Jews and Muslims are called by God to renounce violence always.
"No one, for any reason, can kill in the name of God, who is one and merciful," he said.
"God is life and the source of life," the pope said. "To believe in him means witnessing to him with mercy and forgiveness, refusing to exploit his holy name."
Pope John Paul told the congregation in St. Peter's Basilica that he realized it was difficult to reflect on peace "in a climate of widespread worry because of the recent dramatic events which have shaken the world."
"But no matter how humanly difficult it may seem to look toward the future with optimism, we must not give in to the temptation of discouragement," he said.
"On the contrary, we must work for peace with courage, certain that evil will not prevail," the pope said.
"Justice and forgiveness, these are the two pillars of peace," he said, referring to the theme of the World Peace Day message that was sent to heads of state around the world and published in early December.
Justice and forgiveness are not contradictory, but complementary, and are essential for creating lasting peace, the pope said.
To turn a cessation of hostilities into peace, right relationships must be restored with justice, he said. And "only forgiveness can quench the thirst for vengeance and open the heart to an authentic and lasting reconciliation between peoples."
"In the name of God, I renew my heartfelt appeal to all, believers and nonbelievers, so that the twin terms `justice and forgiveness' always mark relationships between individuals, among social groups and between peoples," the pope said.
A prayer that leaders of nations and international organizations would promote justice and forgiveness "in the face of the serious problems which afflict our times" was read in Arabic.
A prayer in Hebrew asked that families and nations, "although tried by useless carnage and outraged by serious violence, would be helped to understand that the capacity to forgive is at the basis of every project for a fraternal society which is more just and marked by solidarity."
Another prayer, in Portuguese, was offered that terrorists would be freed "from the spirit of vengeance for injustices they may have suffered and from every form of fundamentalism."
Speaking in Chinese, another reader prayed for religious leaders throughout the world that they would never show tolerance for any form of terrorism, "convinced that terrorist violence is contrary to faith in God the creator and contrary to human dignity."
Reciting the Angelus after the Mass, Pope John Paul again pleaded with people of good will to stand up with courage, justice and love to those, "guided by perverse interests, who aim to make the world a theater of war."
"Together we must firmly oppose the temptations of hatred and violence which give only the illusion of resolving conflicts, but in fact bring real and permanent losses." he said. "Forgiveness, as opposed to the instinct of responding to evil with evil, is an attitude which, especially for Christians, has deep religious motives, but it also has a rational basis," the pope said.
"The rule of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us is valid for all, believers and nonbelievers," he said. "This ethical principle, applied on a social and international level, is the way to build a more just world."
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