Feb 23 Mon
What is today the greatest obstacle to peace?
Recently, Pope Leo XIV reflected on peace as “a gift, a covenant, and a promise.”
“Peace is above all a gift. We receive it from those who came before us, and for this, we must be grateful.”
“Peace is also a covenant, which binds us to one another and commits us to preserve it where it exists and to pursue it where it is absent.”
“Finally, peace is a promise, because it opens before us the hope of a better world, a hope shared by all people of good will.”
Politics plays an indispensable role in this task. Thus, we must work together to establish forms of participation in our countries that allow all citizens—men and women alike—to engage in the institutional life of our nations. Upon this foundation of justice, it will be possible to build a universal fraternity that is already taking shape among many young people, a sign of a new era.
“With this in mind, we must reflect on the fact that there can be no peace while humanity wages war against itself—by discarding the weak, excluding the poor, and remaining indifferent to refugees and the oppressed. Only those who care for the least among us are capable of accomplishing what is truly great."
Christians, as followers of Christ, have a particular responsibility for peacebuilding. This responsibility extends not only to relations between nations but also to the concrete places of daily life: the place you live, where you study, and where you work. We must be peacemakers.
If we try to foster harmony within the university or our workplace, or among political parties and civic associations, we will be able to build peace within society as a whole, and even between peoples and continents.
In this context, Mother Teresa of Calcutta remarked that “The greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion, which is war against the child. There, the mother doesn't love, but kills to solve her own problems. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want.”
Her words remain prophetic. No policy can genuinely serve the people if it denies the unborn the gift of life or neglects to support those in need, whether in their material circumstances or in their spiritual distress.
Communion in the Church, in its many aspects, “teaches us to listen to the perspectives of others, instead of relying solely on our own.” Together we can do great things.
The one God has entrusted the earth to us as a common home for all peoples; therefore, the label “One Humanity, One Planet” finds its fullest expression when completed by the words “One God.” Recognizing in him our loving and benevolent Creator, our religious traditions call us to contribute to social progress by always seeking the common good, which rests upon the firm foundations of peace and justice.