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Pope Francis releases his message for the World Day of
Peace to be celebrated on 1 January 2023, and recalls that all crises are
interconnected and that we must not forget any of them, but work for the good
of humanity.
-by Francesca Merlo
“No one can be saved alone. Combatting Covid-19
together, embarking together on paths of peace.” With this as its title, Pope
Francis has presented his message for the 56th World Day of Peace, held
annually on 1 January.
Remain steadfast
The Holy Father’s message, released on Friday, opens
with a quotation from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians
(5:1-2).
“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers
and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you
yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in
the night.”
Thus, the Pope recalls that the Apostle Paul
encouraged the Thessalonian community to remain steadfast. Likewise, he says,
“when tragic events seem to overwhelm our lives, we are called to keep our
hearts open to hope and to trust in God, who makes himself present, accompanies
us with tenderness, sustains us in our weariness and, above all, guides our
path.”
Darkness of the Covid-19 pandemic
There is light even in the darkest hour, says Pope
Francis, before going on to use the Covid-19 pandemic as an example: “The
pandemic seems to have upset even the most peaceful parts of our world, and
exposed any number of forms of fragility.”
Three years later, he stresses, “the time is right to
question, learn, grow and allow ourselves to be transformed as individuals and
as communities” reminding us, as he has done before, that “we never emerge the
same from times of crisis: we emerge either better or worse."
This experience has made us all the more aware of the
need for everyone, including peoples and nations, to restore the word
“together” to a central place in our lexicon.
Only the peace that comes from a fraternal and disinterested love can
help us overcome personal, societal and global crises.
“Our greatest and yet most fragile treasure is our
shared humanity as brothers and sisters, children of God. None of us can be
saved alone.”
Man-made wars
Pope Francis goes on to stress that this is not the
post-Covid era we had hoped for or expected. "At the very moment when we
dared to hope that the darkest hours of the Covid-19 pandemic were over, a
terrible new disaster befell humanity," he said, noting that the world
witnessed the onslaught of another scourge: another war, "driven by
culpable human decisions."
Pope Francis notes that the war in Ukraine is
"reaping innocent victims and spreading insecurity, not only among those
directly affected, but in a widespread and indiscriminate way for everyone,
also for those who, even thousands of kilometres away, suffer its collateral
effects – we need but think of grain shortages and fuel prices."
"This war," he says, "together with all
the other conflicts around the globe, represents a setback for the whole of
humanity and not merely for the parties directly involved. While a vaccine has
been found for Covid-19, suitable solutions have not yet been found for the
war."
“Certainly, the virus of war is more difficult to
overcome than the viruses that compromise our bodies, because it comes, not
from outside of us, but from within the human heart corrupted by sin.”
No one can be saved alone
"What then is being asked of us?" the Pope
asks, in light of all these difficult times: "First of all, to let our
hearts be changed by our experience of the crisis."
In fact, he explains: "we can no longer think
exclusively of carving out space for our personal or national interests, (...)
instead we must think in terms of the common good."
We cannot, however, ignore one fundamental fact, he
continues: "Many moral, social, political and economic crises we are
experiencing are all interconnected, and what we see as isolated problems are
actually causes and effects of one another."
And he calls on all those in positions of
responsibility and on all men and women of goodwill "to revisit the issue
of ensuring public health for all"; to "promote actions that enhance
peace and put an end to the conflicts and wars that continue to spawn poverty
and death"; "to join in caring for our common home and in
implementing clear and effective measures to combat climate change";
"to battle the virus of inequality and to ensure food and dignified labour
for all, supporting those who lack even a minimum wage and find themselves in
great difficulty."
“The scandal of entire peoples starving remains an
open wound.”
May we make
this a good year for all
Finally, Pope Francis asks that in the coming New Year
that "we journey together, valuing the lessons that history has to teach
us."
“To all men and women of goodwill, I express my
prayerful trust that, as artisans of peace, they may work, day by day, to make
this a good year!”
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