“…renew our faith in man, in his capacity to do what is good”

On Friday, 8 April 2005, Pope John Paul II was buried in a crypt under the St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome after millions of pilgrims had paid their last respects to Pope John Paul II, among them many young people from all over the world. Throughout his life Pope John Paul II had always claimed that neither Marxism nor Neoliberalism or any other political ideology would reduce the suffering of the people in our world. He was deeply convinced that planting the seed of humanity and peace in the people’s hearts was the only way out of the crises in our world. Wherever the Pope addressed people on his journeys all over the world, he spoke out against war and in favour of peace and understanding. Instead of an obituary we would like to quote Pope John Paul II on peace as his words are self-evident.

When he travelled to Japan in February 1981, Pope John Paul II visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a ‘pilgrim of peace’. At the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima he said:

“To remember the past is to commit oneself to the future. To remember Hiroshima is to abhor nuclear war. To remember Hiroshima is to commit oneself to peace. To remember what the people of this city suffered is to renew our faith in man, in his capacity to do what is good, in his freedom to choose what is right, in his determination to turn disaster into a new beginning. In the face of the man-made calamity that every war is, one must affirm and reaffirm, again and again, that the waging of war is not inevitable or unchangeable. Humanity is not destined to self-destruction. Clashes of ideologies, aspirations and needs can and must be settled and resolved by means other than war and violence. Humanity owes it to itself to settle difference and conflicts by peaceful means. The great spectrum of problems facing the many peoples in varying stages of cultural, social, economic and political development gives rise to international tension and conflict. It is vital for humanity that these problems should be solved in accordance with ethical principles of equity and justice enshrined in meaningful agreements and institutions. The international community should thus give itself a system of law that will regulate international relations and maintain peace, just as the rule of law protects national order.”

In 1982, Pope John Paul II, in a message to the General Assembly of the United Nations, made the judgement that:

“In current conditions ‘deterrence’ based on balance, certainly not as end in itself but as a step on the way toward a progressive disarmament, may still be judged morally acceptable. Nonetheless, in order to ensure peace, it is indispensable not to be satisfied with this minimum which is always susceptible to the real danger of explosion.”

In his message for the 1995 World day of Peace he wrote:

“The violence which so many individuals and peoples continue to experience, the wars which still cause bloodshed in many areas of the world and the injustice which burdens the life of whole continents can no longer be tolerated.

The time has come to move from words to deeds: Many individual citizens and families, believers and churches, states and international organizations all recognize that they are called to renew their commitment to work for peace.”

He especially addressed to women in the wake of the Beijing Conference saying that:

“In this context I wish to direct my message (…) especially to women and to invite them to become teachers of peace with their whole being and in all their actions. May they be witnesses, messengers and teachers of peace in relations between individuals and between generations, in the family, in the cultural, social and political life of nations, and particularly in the situations of conflict and war. May they continue to follow the path which leads to peace, a path which so many courageous and farsighted
women have walked before them!”