Bold Thoughts on Peace
From Pope Benedict XVI

Q U I C K S C A N

God's gift and our task
The right to life and religious freedom
Inadequate conceptions of humanity and God
Only God can bring about true peace

Today I want to reflect with you on a selection of passages taken from Pope Benedict’s message for World Day of Peace, January 1, 2007. It’s a message meant for the whole year.

“At the beginning of the new year,” he tells us, “I wish to extend prayerful good wishes for peace to governments, leaders of nations and all men and women of good will. In a special way, I invoke peace upon all those experiencing pain and suffering, those living under the threat of violence and armed aggression and those who await their human and social emancipation, having had their dignity trampled upon. I invoke peace upon children, who by their innocence enrich humanity with goodness and hope, and by their sufferings compel us to work for justice and peace….”

God’s gift and our task

The pope goes on to say that “peace is both gift and task….Peace is a gift from God. Peace is an aspect of God’s activity, made manifest both in creation of an orderly and harmonious universe and also in the redemption of humanity that needs to be rescued from the disorder of sin. Creation and redemption thus provide us a key that helps us understand the meaning of our life on earth….Peace is also a task demanding of everyone a personal response consistent with God’s plan.”

The pope also speaks about the sacred duty we all have “to respect the dignity of each human being, in whose nature the image of the Creator is reflected” and, because of this God-given dignity, the human “person can not be disposed of at will. Those with greater political, technical or economic power may not use that power to violate the rights of others who are less fortunate. Peace is based on respect for the rights of all. Conscious of this, the Church champions the fundamental rights of each person. In particular she promotes and defends respect for life and the religious freedom of everyone.”

The right to life and religious freedom

“As far as the right to life is concerned, we must denounce its widespread violation in our society: Alongside the victims of armed conflict, terrorism and the different forms of violence, there are the silent deaths caused by hunger, abortion, experimentation on human embryos and euthanasia. How can we fail to see in all of this an attack on peace?”

“As far as the free expression of religious freedom is concerned, another disturbing symptom of lack of peace in the world is represented by the difficulties that both Christians and the followers of other religions frequently encounter in publicly and freely professing their religious convictions. Speaking of Christians in particular, I must point out with pain that not only are they at times prevented from doing so; in some states they are actually persecuted, and even recently tragic cases of ferocious violence have been recorded. There are regimes that impose a single religion upon everyone, while secular regimes often lead not so much to violent persecution as to systematic cultural denigration of religious beliefs. In both instances, a fundamental human right is not being respected, with serious repercussions for peaceful coexistence. This can only promote a mentality and culture that is not conducive to peace.”

Inadequate conceptions of humanity and God

Given the international difficulties and tensions of our times, there is an urgent need, insists Pope Benedict, for a “human ecology” that fosters the building up of a more peaceful world. He warns that we must be wary of conceptions of the human person that “can instill hatred and violence. Equally unacceptable,” he adds, “are conceptions of God that would encourage intolerance and recourse to violence against others. This is a point that must be clearly reaffirmed: War in God’s name is never acceptable! When a certain notion of God is at the origin of criminal acts, it is a sign that that notion has already become an ideology.”

I admire Pope Benedict’s courage in pointing out and naming the evil tendency that he just referred to, namely, the waging of war and the destruction of human life in the name of God. In one way or another, in most of the major conflicts of our day, God is often being invoked in support of armed aggression by small-minded human leaders. In my humble opinion, leaders on all sides need to refrain from claiming that their human decisions to attack and destroy other human beings are endorsed by God.

From this point on, I would like to use Pope Benedict’s thoughts on peace as kind of springboard for few personal thoughts on the building of a peaceful world.

Only God can bring about true peace

“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it” (Psalm 127). It’s important to take a cue from this psalm and to understand that our own human efforts are not enough to achieve peace. We must rely also on the help of God—who is so much larger than any of us—in order to arrive at the fullness of peace here on earth.

I believe that this is an idea and a truth that adherents of each of the three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) can agree with. I think members of each of these three faiths would agree that we all need to depend on a Being greater than ourselves to bring about a more peaceful world. I can only assume, for example, that our Muslim brothers and sisters would agree with this because the word Muslim means one who submits or surrenders to God. Those who surrender to God certainly recognize the need to submit to the will and wisdom of God. From my study of world religions and personal explorations into Islam as a journalist, I know that the prophet Muhammad had an exalted notion of the absolute transcendence and nature of God or Allah (the Arabic word for God). And one has only to see Muslims bowing in prayer to see a visible and reverent expression of their spirit of surrender.

I know that our Jewish friends would hold to the necessity of reverence, obedience and submission to their Creator and Lord. Certainly Abraham gave a marvelous example of surrendering in faith to God rather than relying on his own worldly instincts when he responded obediently to the Lord’s call that he “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

As a Christian, I certainly see in Jesus the example of a human being who surrendered to the will of God and humbly walked in submission to his Father’s will. We recall his words in the Garden of Gethsemane immediately before his passion and death: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; still, not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Surrendering to God’s will was the way Jesus became the “New Adam” and “reversed” the disobedience of Adam and Eve, a story familiar to adherents of each of these three faiths that go back to Abraham. An attitude of surrender is a common spiritual principle shared by each of these faiths.

Surrendering in faith before God is also an important attitude for all those seeking to build a more peaceful world. Another helpful attitude, of course, for those who wish to live together in peace with members of other religions is to focus on the values and beliefs we hold in common, rather than on our differences. May the one God, who is more exalted, powerful, wise and compassionate than any of us, lead us to peace!

Friar Jim’s Inbox

Readers respond to Friar Jim’s “Catechism Quiz: God’s Gift of Life and the Tragedy of Suicide.”

Dear Friar Jim: Thank you for your comments on suicide. I know the depths of depression and have been there. I thank God that I never was “successful” in my one try. I have since found good doctors and priests who have given me great counseling. Unfortunately, my cousin did kill himself; none of us knew how bad off he was. Mental illness is something that our society must learn to treat like any other illness. We must all pray for people with emotional problems. J.C.

Dear J.C.: You are right on target with your comments. In a situation like suicide, it is compassion that is called for, not harsh and unsympathetic judgment. As I said, we don’t know what we would do in similar circumstances. Friar Jim

Dear Friar Jim: What a wonderfully compassionate response to suicide. I’m no expert on anything but I think, on these “thorny” issues in particular, we do best, when in doubt, to follow Jesus’ example and err on the side of kindness. “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” We who know so little should be thankful that we do not have to judge and be grateful that the one who does is all knowing and all merciful. Again, thanks for the insight. Lele

Dear Lele: You are correct. God holds such victims in his arms; only he can understand the pain, fear and anguish they experience. God bless you. Friar Jim

Send your feedback to friarjack@americancatholic.org.

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