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Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

DSE · C. Justice & Peace · 2004 · EN · 583 paragraphs · vatican.va ↗

Peace is a value 1015Cf. John Paul II, Message for the 1986 World Day of Peace, 1: AAS 78 (1986), 278-279. and a universal duty 1016Cf. Paul VI, Message for the 1969 World Day of Peace: AAS 60 (1968), 771; John Paul II, Message for the 2004 World Day of Peace, 4: AAS 96 (2004), 116. founded on a rational and moral order of society that has its roots in God himself, “the first source of being, the essential truth and the supreme good”.1017John Paul II, Message for the 1982 World Day of Peace 4: AAS 74 (1982), 328. Peace is not merely the absence of war, nor can it be reduced solely to the maintenance of a balance of power between enemies.1018Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 78: AAS 58 (1966), 1101-1102. Rather it is founded on a correct understanding of the human person 1019Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 51: AAS 83 (1991), 856-857. and requires the establishment of an order based on justice and charity. Peace is the fruit of justice,1020Cf. Paul VI, Message for the 1972 World Day of Peace: AAS 63 (1971), 868. (cf. Is 32:17) understood in the broad sense as the respect for the equilibrium of every dimension of the human person. Peace is threatened when man is not given all that is due him as a human person, when his dignity is not respected and when civil life is not directed to the common good. The defence and promotion of human rights is essential for the building up of a peaceful society and the integral development of individuals, peoples and nations.1021Cf. Paul VI, Message for the 1969 World Day of Peace: AAS 60 (1968), 772; John Paul II, Message for the 1999 World Day of Peace, 12: AAS 91 (1999), 386-387. Peace is also the fruit of love. “True and lasting peace is more a matter of love than of justice, because the function of justice is merely to do away with obstacles to peace: the injury done or the damage caused. Peace itself, however, is an act and results only from love”.1022Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Ubi Arcano: AAS 14 (1922), 686. In the Encyclical, reference is made to Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 29, a. 3, ad 3um: Ed. Leon. 8, 238; cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 78: AAS 58 (1966), 1101-1102.

Peace is built up day after day in the pursuit of an order willed by God1023Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 76: AAS 59 (1967), 294-295. and can flourish only when all recognize that everyone is responsible for promoting it.1024Cf. Paul VI, Message for the 1974 World Day of Peace: AAS 65 (1973), 672. To prevent conflicts and violence, it is absolutely necessary that peace begin to take root as a value rooted deep within the heart of every person. In this way it can spread to families and to the different associations within society until the whole of the political community is involved.1025Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2317. In a climate permeated with harmony and respect for justice, an authentic culture of peace 1026John Paul II, Address to the Diplomatic Corps (13 January 1997), 3: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 15 January 1997, pp. 6-7. can grow and can even pervade the entire international community. Peace is, consequently, the fruit of “that harmony structured into human society by its Divine Founder and which must be actualized by men as they aspire for ever greater justice”.1027Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 78: AAS 58 (1966), 1101; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2304. Such an ideal of peace “cannot be obtained on earth unless the welfare of man is safeguarded and people freely and trustingly share with one another the riches of their minds and their talents”.1028Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 78: AAS 58 (1966), 1101.

Violence is never a proper response. With the conviction of her faith in Christ and with the awareness of her mission, the Church proclaims “that violence is evil, that violence is unacceptable as a solution to problems, that violence is unworthy of man. Violence is a lie, for it goes against the truth of our faith, the truth of our humanity. Violence destroys what it claims to defend: the dignity, the life, the freedom of human beings”.1029John Paul II, Address at Drogheda, Ireland (29 September 1979), 9: AAS 71 (1979), 1081; cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, 37: AAS 68 (1976), 29. The contemporary world too needs the witness of unarmed prophets, who are often the objects of ridicule.1030Cf. John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (12 November 1983), 5: AAS 76 (1984), 398-399. “Those who renounce violence and bloodshed and, in order to safeguard human rights, make use of those means of defence available to the weakest, bear witness to evangelical charity, provided they do so without harming the rights and obligations of other men and societies. They bear legitimate witness to the gravity of the physical and moral risk of recourse to violence, with all its destruction and death”.1031Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2306.

Notes

  1. 1015. Cf. John Paul II, Message for the 1986 World Day of Peace, 1: AAS 78 (1986), 278-279.
  2. 1016. Cf. Paul VI, Message for the 1969 World Day of Peace: AAS 60 (1968), 771; John Paul II, Message for the 2004 World Day of Peace, 4: AAS 96 (2004), 116.
  3. 1017. John Paul II, Message for the 1982 World Day of Peace 4: AAS 74 (1982), 328.
  4. 1018. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 78: AAS 58 (1966), 1101-1102.
  5. 1019. Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 51: AAS 83 (1991), 856-857.
  6. 1020. Cf. Paul VI, Message for the 1972 World Day of Peace: AAS 63 (1971), 868.
  7. 1021. Cf. Paul VI, Message for the 1969 World Day of Peace: AAS 60 (1968), 772; John Paul II, Message for the 1999 World Day of Peace, 12: AAS 91 (1999), 386-387.
  8. 1022. Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Ubi Arcano: AAS 14 (1922), 686. In the Encyclical, reference is made to Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 29, a. 3, ad 3um: Ed. Leon. 8, 238; cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 78: AAS 58 (1966), 1101-1102.
  9. 1023. Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 76: AAS 59 (1967), 294-295.
  10. 1024. Cf. Paul VI, Message for the 1974 World Day of Peace: AAS 65 (1973), 672.
  11. 1025. Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2317.
  12. 1026. John Paul II, Address to the Diplomatic Corps (13 January 1997), 3: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 15 January 1997, pp. 6-7.
  13. 1027. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 78: AAS 58 (1966), 1101; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2304.
  14. 1028. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 78: AAS 58 (1966), 1101.
  15. 1029. John Paul II, Address at Drogheda, Ireland (29 September 1979), 9: AAS 71 (1979), 1081; cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, 37: AAS 68 (1976), 29.
  16. 1030. Cf. John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (12 November 1983), 5: AAS 76 (1984), 398-399.
  17. 1031. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2306.