“It is time for all of us to work to heal our society and planet and lay the foundations for a more just and peaceful world,” Pope Francis said today in a message addressed to all humanity.
According to a statement released this Friday by the Press Office of the Holy See, in his note to mark the LVI World Day of Peace, which will be observed on January 1, 2023, the Pope called on all nations to engage “seriously in search of a truly common Good.
“We must no longer think only of giving space to our personal or national interests, but we must see ourselves in the light of the common good, with a sense of communion, that is, we are open to a universal fraternity,” said Franz.
“We can’t just try to protect ourselves; it is time we all worked together to heal our society and planet and lay the foundations for a more just and peaceful world.”
Referring to the Covid-19 pandemic, he noted that the biggest lesson it left us with is “the awareness that we all need each other; that our greatest treasure, albeit the most fragile, is human fraternity”.
The spread of this disease around the world has “touched a delicate thread in the social and economic fabric, bringing to light contradictions and inequalities. It has threatened the job security of many and aggravated the increasingly widespread loneliness in our societies, particularly that of the most vulnerable and the poor,” the Bishop of Rome claimed.
He stressed that “the most effective responses to the pandemic have indeed been those in which societal groups, public and private institutions and international organizations have come together to face the challenge and put aside particular interests”.
On the other hand, he stressed that “the common problems of imbalance, injustice, poverty and exclusion feed riots and conflicts, generating violence and even wars” that even “affect those who suffer their side effects even thousands of kilometers away”.
We must also “fight against the virus of inequality and guarantee food and decent work for all and support those who do not even have a minimum wage and are in great difficulty” because “the scandal of the starving peoples pains us.
“We need to develop reception and integration with appropriate strategies, especially for migrants and those who live as marginalized in our societies.
“The various moral, social, political and economic crises from which we suffer are all interrelated, and what we consider to be autonomous problems are in fact some the cause or consequence of others” and called for “the application of clear and effective measures to deal with them change climate.
“We need to get back to the issue of ensuring public health for all; Promote peace action to end conflicts and wars that continue to create casualties and poverty; take care of our common home together”, because “it is together, in fraternity and solidarity, that we can build peace, guarantee justice and overcome the most painful events”, Pope Francis added in his message.