Given in French, the Pope's speech was also made
available in English, Spanish and Italian. His talk
followed greetings by Ambassador Giovanni Galassi of San
Marino, dean of the diplomatic corps.
In
his welcome, the Pope had special words for the 37 new
ambassadors who presented their Letters of Credence
during the past year.
He
added that his sentiments of joy at today's meeting "are
overshadowed, unfortunately, by the enormous catastrophe
which on December 26 struck different countries of
Southeast Asia and as far as the coasts of East
Africa.
It
made for a painful ending of the year just past: a year
troubled also by other natural calamities, such as the
devastating cyclones in the Indian Ocean and the
Antilles, and the plague of locusts which desolated vast
regions of Northwest Africa.”
Other tragedies also cast a shadow on 2004, like
the acts of barbarous terrorism which caused bloodshed
in Iraq and other countries of the world, the savage
attack in Madrid, the terrorist massacre in Beslan, the
inhuman acts of violence inflicted on the people of
Darfur, the atrocities perpetrated in the Great Lakes
region of Africa."
The
Holy Father told the diplomats that their presence
"immediately sets before our eyes the great tableau of
humanity with its grave and troubling problems and its
great and undampened hopes.”
He
said that “The Catholic Church, because of her universal
nature, is always directly engaged in the great causes
for which the men and women of our age struggle and
hope."
He
then quoted his Message for World Day of Peace 2005,
saying its theme - "Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil by good" - was the message he wished to
leave them today because it "has a specific application
to international relations, and it can be a guide to all
in meeting the great challenges facing humanity today,"
principally the challenge of life, the challenge of
food, the challenge of peace and that of
freedom.
The Church’s Task to Promote
Life
Regarding the challenge of life,
Pope John Paul said: "The Church is called to proclaim
'the Gospel of Life'.”
He
added that “the State has as its primary task precisely
the safeguarding and promotion of human life. ...
Conflicting views have been put forward regarding
abortion, assisted procreation, the use of human
embryonic stem cells for scientific research, and
cloning.”
“The
Church's position,” he said, “supported by reason
and science, is clear: the human embryo is a subject
identical to the human being which will be born at the
term of its development. Consequently whatever violates
the integrity and the dignity of the embryo is ethically
inadmissible.”
“Similarly, any form of scientific research which
treats the embryo merely as a laboratory specimen is
unworthy of man."
There is also a challenge to the family, he said,
noting that today "the family is often threatened by
social and cultural pressures which tend to undermine
its stability; but in some countries the family is also
threatened by legislation which - at times directly -
challenge its natural structure, which is and must
necessarily be that of a union between a man and a woman
founded on marriage."
The Challenge to Feed the
Nations
On the challenge of food, the
Pope stated: "This world, made wondrously fruitful by
its Creator, possesses a sufficient quantity and variety
of food for all its inhabitants, now and in the future.
Yet the statistics on world hunger are dramatic:
hundreds of millions of human beings are suffering from
grave malnutrition, and each year millions of children
die of hunger or its effects."
“Much has been done,” he added, "yet all this is
not enough. An adequate response to this need, which is
growing in scale and urgency, calls for a vast moral
mobilization of public opinion; the same applies all the
more to political leaders, especially in those countries
enjoying a sufficient or even prosperous standard of
living."
Peace- the “Dream of Every
Generation”
Turning to the challenge of
peace, the Holy Father pointed out that "peace is the
dream of every generation. Yet how many wars and armed
conflicts continue to take place - between States,
ethnic groups, peoples and groups living in the same
territory.”
“From one end of the world to the other, they are
claiming countless innocent victims and spawning so many
other evils!”
“In
addition to these tragic evils”, he said, “there is the
brutal, inhuman phenomenon of terrorism, a scourge which
has taken on a global dimension unknown to previous
generations.”
"Like my venerable predecessors," he affirmed, "I
have spoken out countless times, in public statements -
especially in my annual Message for the World Day of
Peace - and through the Holy See's diplomatic activity,
and I shall continue to do so, pointing out the paths to
peace and urging that they be followed with courage and
patience.
The
arrogance of power must be countered with reason, force
with dialogue, pointed weapons with outstretched hands,
evil with good."
He
said that "there are some encouraging signs that the
great challenge of building peace can be met,"
especially in Africa and the Middle East, adding that
"certainly an outstanding example of the possibility of
peace can be seen in Europe: nations which were once
fierce enemies locked in deadly wars are now members of
the European Union."
"God
loves mankind, and he wants peace for all men and
women. We are asked to be active instruments of
that peace, and to overcome evil with good."
“All Human Beings Born
Free”
Pope John Paul then turned
to the challenge of freedom, telling the diplomats: "All
of you know how important this is to me, especially
because of the history of my native people, yet it is
also important to each of you. ... “
“Yet
freedom is first and foremost a right of each
individual.”
“As
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights fittingly
states in Article 1 - 'all human beings are born free
and equal in dignity and rights'. Article 3 goes
on to state that 'everyone has the right to life,
liberty and security of person'. Certainly the
freedom of States is also sacred; they need to be free,
above all so that they can carry out adequately their
fundamental duty of safeguarding both the life and the
freedom of their citizens in all their legitimate
manifestations.”
"At
the very heart of human freedom is the right to
religious freedom, since it deals with man's most
fundamental relationship: his relationship with God.
...”
“In
many States, freedom of religion is a right which is not
yet sufficiently or adequately recognized.
...”
“Consequently I repeat today an appeal which the
Church has already made on numerous occasions: 'It is
necessary that religious freedom be everywhere provided
with an effective constitutional guarantee, and that
respect be shown for the high duty and right of man
freely to lead his religious life in
society'.”
"There need be no fear that legitimate religious
freedom would limit other freedoms or be injurious to
the life of civil society. On the contrary: together
with religious freedom, all other freedoms develop and
thrive. ...”
“Neither should there be a fear that religious
freedom, once granted to the Catholic Church, would
intrude upon the realm of political freedom and the
competencies proper to the State: the Church is able
carefully to distinguish, as she must, what belongs to
Caesar from what belongs to
God."
