MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE
WORLD DAY OF PEACE
POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE
WORLD DAY OF PEACE
1 JANUARY 2015
1. At the beginning of this New Year, which we
welcome as God’s gracious gift to all humanity, I offer heartfelt wishes of
peace to every man and woman, to all the world’s peoples and nations, to heads
of state and government, and to religious leaders. In doing so, I pray for an
end to wars, conflicts and the great suffering caused by human agency, by epidemics
past and present, and by the devastation wrought by natural disasters. I pray
especially that, on the basis of our common calling to cooperate with God and
all people of good will for the advancement of harmony and peace in the world,
we may resist the temptation to act in a manner unworthy of our humanity.
In my
Message for Peace last year, I spoke of “the desire for a full life… which
includes a longing for fraternity which draws us to fellowship with others and
enables us to see them not as enemies or rivals, but as brothers and sisters to
be accepted and embraced”.[1] Since we
are by nature relational beings, meant to find fulfilment through interpersonal
relationships inspired by justice and love, it is fundamental for our human
development that our dignity, freedom and autonomy be acknowledged and
respected. Tragically, the growing scourge of man’s exploitation by man gravely
damages the life of communion and our calling to forge interpersonal relations
marked by respect, justice and love. This abominable phenomenon, which leads to
contempt for the fundamental rights of others and to the suppression of their
freedom and dignity, takes many forms. I would like briefly to consider these,
so that, in the light of God’s word, we can consider all men and women “no
longer slaves, but brothers and sisters”.
Listening to God’s plan for humanity
2. The theme I have chosen for this year’s message
is drawn from Saint Paul’s letter to Philemon, in which the Apostle asks his
co-worker to welcome Onesimus, formerly Philemon’s slave, now a Christian and,
therefore, according to Paul, worthy of being considered a brother.
The Apostle of the Gentiles writes: “Perhaps this is why he was parted from you
for a while, that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave but
more than a slave, as a beloved brother” (vv. 15-16). Onesimus became
Philemon’s brother when he became a Christian. Conversion to
Christ, the beginning of a life lived Christian discipleship, thus
constitutes a new birth (cf. 2 Cor 5:17; 1
Pet 1:3) which generates fraternity as the
fundamental bond of family life and the basis of life in society.
In the Book of Genesis (cf. 1:27-28), we read that
God made man male and female, and blessed them so that they could
increase and multiply. He made Adam and Eve parents who, in response to God’s
command to be fruitful and multiply, brought about the first fraternity,
that of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel were brothers because they came forth from
the same womb. Consequently they had the same origin, nature and dignity as
their parents, who were created in the image and likeness of God.
But fraternity also embraces
variety and differences between brothers and sisters, even though they are
linked by birth and are of the same nature and dignity. As brothers and
sisters, therefore, all people are in relation with others, from whom they
differ, but with whom they share the same origin, nature and dignity. In this
way, fraternity constitutes the network of relations essential
for the building of the human family created by God.
Tragically, between the first creation recounted in
the Book of Genesis and the new birth in Christ whereby
believers become brothers and sisters of the “first-born among many brethren” (Rom 8:29),
there is the negative reality of sin, which often disrupts human fraternity and
constantly disfigures the beauty and nobility of our being brothers and
sisters in the one human family. It was not only that Cain could not
stand Abel; he killed him out of envy and, in so doing, committed the first
fratricide. “Cain’s murder of Abel bears tragic witness to his radical
rejection of their vocation to be brothers. Their story (cf. Gen 4:1-16)
brings out the difficult task to which all men and women are called, to live as
one, each taking care of the other”.[2]
This was also the case with Noah and his children
(cf. Gen 9:18-27). Ham’s disrespect for his father Noah drove
Noah to curse his insolent son and to bless the others, those who honoured him.
This created an inequality between brothers born of the same womb.
In the account of the origins of the human family,
the sin of estrangement from God, from the father figure and from the brother,
becomes an expression of the refusal of communion. It gives rise to a culture
of enslavement (cf. Gen 9:25-27), with all its consequences
extending from generation to generation: rejection of others, their
mistreatment, violations of their dignity and fundamental rights, and
institutionalized inequality. Hence, the need for constant conversion to the
Covenant, fulfilled by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, in the confidence that
“where sin increased, grace abounded all the more… through Jesus Christ” (Rom5:20-21).
Christ, the beloved Son (cf. Mt 3:17), came
to reveal the Father’s love for humanity. Whoever hears the Gospel and responds
to the call to conversion becomes Jesus’ “brother, sister and mother” (Mt 12:50),
and thus an adopted son of his Father (cf. Eph 1:5).
One does not become a Christian, a child of the
Father and a brother or sister in Christ, as the result of an authoritative
divine decree, without the exercise of personal freedom: in a word, without
being freely converted to Christ. Becoming a child of God is
necessarily linked to conversion: “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). All those who
responded in faith and with their lives to Peter’s preaching entered into
the fraternity of the first Christian community (cf. 1
Pet 2:17; Acts 1:15-16, 6:3, 15:23): Jews and Greeks,
slaves and free (cf. 1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:28).
Differing origins and social status did not diminish anyone’s dignity or
exclude anyone from belonging to the People of God. The Christian community is
thus a place of communion lived in the love shared among brothers and sisters
(cf. Rom 12:10; 1 Thess 4:9; Heb 13:1; 1
Pet 1:22; 2 Pet 1:7).
All of this shows how the Good News of Jesus Christ,
in whom God makes “all things new” (Rev 21:5),[3] is also
capable of redeeming human relationships, including those between slaves and
masters, by shedding light on what both have in common: adoptive sonship and
the bond of brotherhood in Christ. Jesus himself said to his disciples: “No
longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is
doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father
I have made known to you” (Jn 15:15).
The many faces of slavery yesterday and
today
3. From time immemorial, different societies have
known the phenomenon of man’s subjugation by man. There have been periods of
human history in which the institution of slavery was generally accepted and
regulated by law. This legislation dictated who was born free and who was born
into slavery, as well as the conditions whereby a freeborn person could lose
his or her freedom or regain it. In other words, the law itself admitted that
some people were able or required to be considered the property of other
people, at their free disposition. A slave could be bought and sold, given away
or acquired, as if he or she were a commercial product.
Today, as the result of a growth in our awareness,
slavery, seen as a crime against humanity,[4] has been
formally abolished throughout the world. The right of each person not to be
kept in a state of slavery or servitude has been recognized in international
law as inviolable.
Yet, even though the international community has
adopted numerous agreements aimed at ending slavery in all its forms, and has
launched various strategies to combat this phenomenon, millions of people today
– children, women and men of all ages – are deprived of freedom and are forced
to live in conditions akin to slavery.
I think of the many men and women labourers,
including minors, subjugated in different sectors, whether formally or
informally, in domestic or agricultural workplaces, or in the manufacturing or
mining industry; whether in countries where labour regulations fail to comply
with international norms and minimum standards, or, equally illegally, in
countries which lack legal protection for workers’ rights.
I think also of the living conditions of many
migrants who, in their dramatic odyssey, experience hunger, are
deprived of freedom, robbed of their possessions, or undergo physical and
sexual abuse. In a particular way, I think of those among them who, upon
arriving at their destination after a gruelling journey marked by fear and
insecurity, are detained in at times inhumane conditions. I think of those
among them, who for different social, political and economic reasons, are
forced to live clandestinely. My thoughts also turn to those who, in order to
remain within the law, agree to disgraceful living and working conditions,
especially in those cases where the laws of a nation create or permit a
structural dependency of migrant workers on their employers, as, for example,
when the legality of their residency is made dependent on their labour
contract. Yes, I am thinking of “slave labour”.
I think also of persons forced into
prostitution, many of whom are minors, as well as male and female
sex slaves. I think of women forced into marriage, those sold for arranged
marriages and those bequeathed to relatives of their deceased husbands, without
any right to give or withhold their consent.
Nor can I fail to think of all those persons, minors
and adults alike, who are made objects of trafficking for the
sale of organs, forrecruitment as soldiers, for begging,
for illegal activities such as the production and sale of narcotics,
or for disguised forms of cross-border adoption.
Finally, I think of all those kidnapped and held
captive by terrorist groups, subjected to their purposes as
combatants, or, above all in the case of young girls and women, to be used as
sex slaves. Many of these disappear, while others are sold several times over,
tortured, mutilated or killed.
Some deeper causes of slavery
4. Today, as in the past, slavery is rooted in a
notion of the human person which allows him or her to be treated as an object.
Whenever sin corrupts the human heart and distances us from our Creator and our
neighbours, the latter are no longer regarded as beings of equal dignity, as
brothers or sisters sharing a common humanity, but rather as objects. Whether
by coercion or deception, or by physical or psychological duress, human persons
created in the image and likeness of God are deprived of their freedom, sold
and reduced to being the property of others. They are treated as means to an
end.
Alongside this deeper cause – the rejection of
another person’s humanity – there are other causes which help to explain
contemporary forms of slavery. Among these, I think in the first place of poverty,
underdevelopment and exclusion, especially when combined with a lack of
access to education or scarce, even non-existent, employment
opportunities. Not infrequently, the victims of human trafficking and
slavery are people who look for a way out of a situation of extreme poverty;
taken in by false promises of employment, they often end up in the hands of
criminal networks which organize human trafficking. These networks are skilled
in using modern means of communication as a way of luring young men and women
in various parts of the world.
Another cause of slavery is corruption on
the part of people willing to do anything for financial gain. Slave labour and
human trafficking often require the complicity of intermediaries, be they law
enforcement personnel, state officials, or civil and military institutions.
“This occurs when money, and not the human person, is at the centre of an
economic system. Yes, the person, made in the image of God and charged with
dominion over all creation, must be at the centre of every social or economic
system. When the person is replaced by mammon, a subversion of values occurs”.[5]
Further causes of slavery include armed conflicts, violence, criminal
activity and terrorism. Many people are kidnapped in order
to be sold, enlisted as combatants, or sexually exploited, while others are
forced to emigrate, leaving everything behind: their country, home, property,
and even members of their family. They are driven to seek an alternative to
these terrible conditions even at the risk of their personal dignity and their
very lives; they risk being drawn into that vicious circle which makes them
prey to misery, corruption and their baneful consequences.
A shared commitment to ending slavery
5. Often, when considering the reality of human
trafficking, illegal trafficking of migrants and other acknowledged or
unacknowledged forms of slavery, one has the impression that they occur within
a context of general indifference.
Sadly, this is largely true. Yet I would like to
mention the enormous and often silent efforts which have been made for many
years by religious congregations, especially women’s congregations,
to provide support to victims. These institutes work in very difficult
situations, dominated at times by violence, as they work to break the invisible
chains binding victims to traffickers and exploiters. Those chains are made up
of a series of links, each composed of clever psychological ploys which make
the victims dependent on their exploiters. This is accomplished by blackmail
and threats made against them and their loved ones, but also by concrete acts
such as the confiscation of their identity documents and physical violence. The
activity of religious congregations is carried out in three main areas: in
offering assistance to victims, in working for their psychological and
educational rehabilitation, and in efforts to reintegrate them into the society
where they live or from which they have come.
This immense task, which calls for courage, patience
and perseverance, deserves the appreciation of the whole Church and society.
Yet, of itself, it is not sufficient to end the scourge of the exploitation of
human persons. There is also need for a threefold commitment on the institutional
level: to prevention, to victim protection and to the legal prosecution of
perpetrators. Moreover, since criminal organizations employ global networks to
achieve their goals, efforts to eliminate this phenomenon also demand a common
and, indeed, a global effort on the part of various sectors of society.
States must
ensure that their own legislation truly respects the dignity of the human
person in the areas of migration, employment, adoption, the movement of
businesses offshore and the sale of items produced by slave labour. There is a
need for just laws which are centred on the human person, uphold fundamental
rights and restore those rights when they have been violated. Such laws should
also provide for the rehabilitation of victims, ensure their personal safety,
and include effective means of enforcement which leave no room for corruption
or impunity. The role of women in society must also be recognized, not least
through initiatives in the sectors of culture and social communications.
Intergovernmental organizations,
in keeping with the principle of subsidiarity, are called to coordinate
initiatives for combating the transnational networks of organized crime which
oversee the trafficking of persons and the illegal trafficking of migrants.
Cooperation is clearly needed at a number of levels, involving national and
international institutions, agencies of civil society and the world of finance.
Businesses[6] have
a duty to ensure dignified working conditions and adequate salaries for their
employees, but they must also be vigilant that forms of subjugation or human
trafficking do not find their way into the distribution chain. Together with
the social responsibility of businesses, there is also the social
responsibility of consumers. Every person ought to have the awareness that
“purchasing is always a moral – and not simply an economic – act”.[7]
Organizations in civil society,
for their part, have the task of awakening consciences and promoting whatever
steps are necessary for combating and uprooting the culture of enslavement.
In recent years, the Holy See, attentive to the pain
of the victims of trafficking and the voice of the religious congregations
which assist them on their path to freedom, has increased its appeals to the
international community for cooperation and collaboration between different
agencies in putting an end to this scourge.[8] Meetings
have also been organized to draw attention to the phenomenon of human
trafficking and to facilitate cooperation between various agencies, including
experts from the universities and international organizations, police forces
from migrants’ countries of origin, transit, or destination, and
representatives of ecclesial groups which work with victims. It is my hope that
these efforts will continue to expand in years to come.
Globalizing fraternity, not slavery or
indifference
6. In her “proclamation of the truth of Christ’s
love in society”,[9] the
Church constantly engages in charitable activities inspired by the truth of the
human person. She is charged with showing to all the path to conversion, which
enables us to change the way we see our neighbours, to recognize in every other
person a brother or sister in our human family, and to acknowledge his or her
intrinsic dignity in truth and freedom. This can be clearly seen from the story
of Josephine Bakhita, the saint originally from the Darfur region in Sudan who
was kidnapped by slave-traffickers and sold to brutal masters when she was nine
years old. Subsequently – as a result of painful experiences – she became a
“free daughter of God” thanks to her faith, lived in religious consecration and
in service to others, especially the most lowly and helpless. This saint, who
lived at the turn of the twentieth century, is even today an exemplary witness of
hope[10] for
the many victims of slavery; she can support the efforts of all those committed
to fighting against this “open wound on the body of contemporary society, a
scourge upon the body of Christ”. [11]
In the light of all this, I invite everyone, in
accordance with his or her specific role and responsibilities, to practice acts
of fraternity towards those kept in a state of enslavement. Let us ask ourselves,
as individuals and as communities, whether we feel challenged when, in our
daily lives, we meet or deal with persons who could be victims of human
trafficking, or when we are tempted to select items which may well have been
produced by exploiting others. Some of us, out of indifference, or financial
reasons, or because we are caught up in our daily concerns, close our eyes to
this. Others, however, decide to do something about it, to join civic
associations or to practice small, everyday gestures – which have so much
merit! – such as offering a kind word, a greeting or a smile. These cost us
nothing but they can offer hope, open doors, and change the life of another
person who lives clandestinely; they can also change our own lives with respect
to this reality.
We ought to recognize that we are facing a global
phenomenon which exceeds the competence of any one community or country. In
order to eliminate it, we need a mobilization comparable in size to that of the
phenomenon itself. For this reason I urgently appeal to all men and women of
good will, and all those near or far, including the highest levels of civil
institutions, who witness the scourge of contemporary slavery, not to become
accomplices to this evil, not to turn away from the sufferings of our brothers
and sisters, our fellow human beings, who are deprived of their freedom and
dignity. Instead, may we have the courage to touch the suffering flesh of
Christ,[12] revealed
in the faces of those countless persons whom he calls “the least of these my
brethren” (Mt 25:40, 45).
We know that God will ask each of us: What did you
do for your brother? (cf. Gen 4:9-10). The globalization of
indifference, which today burdens the lives of so many of our brothers and
sisters, requires all of us to forge a new worldwide solidarity and fraternity
capable of giving them new hope and helping them to advance with courage amid
the problems of our time and the new horizons which they disclose and which God
places in our hands.
From the Vatican, 8 December 2014
FRANCISCUS
[4] Cf. Address
to Delegates of the International Association of Penal Law, 23 October
2014: L’Osservatore Romano, 24 October 2014, p. 4.
[5] Address
to Participants in the World Meeting of Popular Movements, 28 October
2014: L’Osservatore Romano, 29 October 2014, p. 7.
[6] Cf.
PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, Vocation of the Business
Leader: A Reflection, 2013.
[8] Cf. Message to
Mr Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organization, on the
occasion of the 103rd Session of the ILO, 22 May 2014: L’Osservatore
Romano, 29 May 2014, p. 7.
[10] “Through
the knowledge of this hope she was ‘redeemed’, no longer a slave, but a free
child of God. She understood what Paul meant when he reminded the Ephesians
that previously they were without hope and without God in the world – without
hope because without God” (BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Spe
Salvi, 3).
[11] Address
to Participants in the Second International Conference on Combating Human
Trafficking: Church and Law Enforcement in Partnership, 10 April
2014: L’Osservatore Romano, 11 April 2014, p. 7; cf. Apostolic
Exhortation Evangelii
Gaudium, 270.
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