Index   Back Top Print

[ EN  - ES  - FR  - IT ]

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO VENEZUELA, ECUADOR,
PERU, TRINIDAD-TOBAGO

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II
 TO THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS*

Sunday, 3 February 1985

 

In the course of my pastoral visit to this beloved country, I could not omit the present meeting with you, the illustrious members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to Peru. I am sincerely grateful for the generous welcome as well as the kind words that your Doyen, expressing the feeling of all, has desired to address to me.

From this ancient yet always youthful "City of the Kings", I wish to express to you my profound esteem for your specific mission and encourage you to continue in your laudable enterprise in favour of understanding and peaceful coexistence among the people, so that, overcoming mistrust, rivalries, and opposing interests - whether they be of nations or groups of nations - there be established an international order that meets ever more adequately the requirements of justice, of solidarity among peoples, and of the fundamental rights of the human person. Respect for these rights is precisely the best guarantee of a correct peaceful coexistence among nations.

In the message that I addressed on the occasion of the last World Day of Peace I wrote: "Yes, there are people today who are prevented by totalitarian regimes and ideological systems from exercising their fundamental right to decide for themselves about their own future. Men and women today suffer insupportable insults to their human dignity through racial discrimination, forced exile and torture. They are victims of hunger and disease. They are prevented from practising their religious beliefs or from developing their own culture» (Message for the World Day of Peace, 1 January 1985, n. 1).

In this the Church wishes to commit itself fully, and invites all who can do so to offer their valuable contribution, so as to achieve that new order of life that establishes on solid foundations, in an equitable and lasting way, relations among people and nations. Here great possibilities open up to experts in this area, called to be constructors of peace, to bring people together, pioneers against hatred and war; in order to eliminate violence forever, so that peace may not be the mere absence of war but a presupposition for an authentic coexistence.

Ladies and gentlemen, in reiterating to you my lively appreciation for your lofty commitment, I pray God that you continue dedicating your efforts and expertise to the just cause of peace and to understanding among peoples through respect for the rights of every person. Many thanks!


*L'Osservatore Romano. Weekly Edition in English n. 14 p.7.

 

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana

         



Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana