INTRODUCTION
By His Eminence the Reverend Cardinal
Darío Castrillón Hoyos
Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy
for the fifteenth video-conference
"PEACE CHALLENGED BY WAR, BY VIOLENCE AND BY TERRORISM"
From the Holy See, January 29th 2003
"Peace is not merely the absence of war; nor can it be reduced solely to the maintenance of a balance of power between enemies; nor is it brought about by dictatorship Instead, it is rightly and appropriately called an enterprise of justice (Is 32,7). Peace results from that order structured into human society by its divine Founder". The statement contained in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes (no. 78) has marked the surmounting of a negative definition of peace, providing the basis for a theological-biblical meditation about peace as a gift to the world from God: a meditation that, starting with the Hebrew concept of shalom, envisages a messianic peace, achieved thanks to the altruistic and redeeming mercy of the Word of God, Prince of Peace (Is 9,5).
Christ, in creating the foundations for God’s friendship with mankind, proclaimed and witnessed from the Cross, in front of all people and until the end of time, that peace is possible, that peace is a duty, that peace is the responsibility of each human being. Peace understood as "tranquillitas ordinis", the tranquillity of order, according to Saint Augustine’s definition – which the Holy Father reminded us of also in his recent message for the celebration of the World Day for Peace on January 1st 2003 -, is a divine gift, but also a human responsibility: it is a goal to be achieved, a objective to be reached.
In this sense, the great relevance of the subject of this fifteenth video-conference: "peace challenged by war, by violence and by terrorism", provides us with an opportunity for better understanding to what extent the full respect of the dignity of each human being and of his fundamental rights, is an indispensable premise for the creation of real and lasting peace.
Bridges are built so as to unite mankind – these are the juridical, political and economic structures and procedures for peace – but if these bridges are built over the chasm of individualistic relativism serving egoistic personal interests, then they become fragile tools that collapse under the weight of the moral challenges that mankind faces today. The "range" provided by these structures and procedures has only one name: "adhesion to the truth", which is also and above all the respect of the right to life and serving the universal common weal.
Faced with the worrying international scenarios and the serious problems posed by poverty and injustice which afflict still so many populations in the world, last January 13th, John Paul II sent out a strong message of hope and faith to the world: "Yet everything can change. It depends on each of us (…).Therefore, the peoples of the earth and their leaders must sometimes have the courage to say "No". No to death! …No to selfishness! …No to war!" (Address to the Diplomatic Corp accredited to the Holy See, nos. 3-4).
It is necessary to emphasise firmly that spirituality and the culture of peace are a path, they indicate an existential route, a loyal way of living; they are an education to justice and to forgiveness. The firm beliefs that peace contains have a moral value for each human being, and fundamentally involve the acceptance of universal human duties contained in the natural law (see Rom 2,14).
This, in its various aspects, will be discussed by the Theologians invited to this international session, Theologians to whom I present my heartfelt thanks. The speeches, we remind you, will be held in a live link-up with ten nations in five continents. The speeches will be broadcast from Rome, from the Seat of the Congregation for the Clergy, by Professor Bruno Forte, by Professor Rino Fisichella, by Professor Jean Galot and by Professor Georges Cottier. There will also be speeches from Manila by Mons. Buhain and il Prof. José Vidamor Yu; from Moscow Mons. Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz and Professor Igor Kowaleswski, from Taipei- Taiwan by Professor Aymond Riker, from Johannesburg by Professor Stuart Bate OMI, from Bogotà by Cardinal Pedro R. Saenz and Professor Silvio Cajiao, from Munich by Cardinal Friedrich Wetter and Mons. Gerhard Ludwig Müller, from New York by Cardinal Edward Egan and Professor Michael Hull, from Sydney by Mons. George Pell and Professor Julian Porteous, from Madrid by Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela and Professor Alfonso Carrasco.
I hope you all enjoy the conference.