VATICAN CITY, DEC. 1, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI made an urgent appeal to world leaders for an end to violence, as he received the credentials of 11 new ambassadors to the Holy See.
«From all parts of the world news arrives about conflicts,» the Pope said today when addressing representatives from Tanzania, Nepal, Finland, Saint Lucia, El Salvador, Denmark, South Africa, Algeria, Eritrea, Togo and Andorra.
«This morning, I would like to make a new appeal to all leaders of nations and all human beings of good will to unite to halt violence, which disfigures humanity and mortgages the growth of peoples and the hope of many populations,» the Holy Father said.
In an address in French, Benedict XVI said that «without the commitment of all to peace, to the creation of an atmosphere of pacification and a spirit of reconciliation at all levels of social life, beginning with the family realm, it is not possible to advance on the path of a pacified society.»
Echoing the Church’s magisterium of the last decades, which has closely linked peace and development, the Pope acknowledged that to promote the latter among peoples in a harmonious way «it is important to pay special attention to youth, giving families and the different educational structures the means to form and educate young people and to transmit the essential spiritual, moral, and social values.»
Educational works
The Holy Father pointed out that it is possible to prepare them «for a better future, so that they will be truly conscious of their role in society and of the conduct they must adopt to serve the common good and pay attention to all.»
«It is one of the essential ways for the world to come out in the long run from the mesh of violence,» he said.
The Pontiff guaranteed the contribution of the Catholic Church to peace and genuine development throughout the world, «promoting numerous educational works and forming the religious sense of individuals so that the sense of fraternity and solidarity will grow in each one.»
«It is not enough to opt for peace to attain it,» he concluded. «To achieve it, it is necessary to contribute all the means at the concrete level, at all levels of society.»
[Two of the Pope’s individual addresses to the ambassadors appear in today’s Documents. Others will appear in the coming days.]
