JOHN PAUL II AND BENEDICT XVI
ON PEACE, TRUTH AND JESUS' WAY OF NONVIOLENT LOVE
Q. (by a reporter) “Is it a just war?”
To obtain the good of peace there must be a clear and conscious acknowledgment that violence is an unacceptable evil and that it never solves problems. Violence is a lie. It goes against the truth of our faith, the truth of our humanity, the truth about Jesus. Violence destroys what it claims to defend; the dignity, the life, the freedom of human beings. What is needed is a great effort to form consciences and to educate the younger generation to goodness, to nonviolence, to love.
-Pope John Paul II- Message for World Day of Peace 2005
Q. (by a reporter) “Is it a just war?”
A. “Well, just look in the catechism where it teaches about just war and if you can say it is a just war then you really don't know the catechism... There's no such thing in Catholic teaching as a preemptive war that could ever be justified...There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq to say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a just war.” - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) just before the 2003 US invasion of Iraq
On the first day of the year I would like to address an appeal to the consciences of all who belong to armed groups of any kind. I say to each and every one: stop, think and abandon the path of violence! At the moment this step might seem impossible to you; but if you have the courage to take it, God will assist you and you will feel returning to your hearts the joy of peace which perhaps you have forgotten for some time. I entrust this appeal to the intercession of Mary, the Most Holy Mother of God. -Benedict XVI – 2010 World Day of Peace and Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
This page of the Gospel (Luke 6:27) is rightly considered the “magna carta” of Christian Nonviolence; it does not consist in surrendering to evil—as claims a false interpretation of “turn the other cheek” (Luke 6:29) –but in responding to evil with good (Romans 12:17-21), and thus breaking the chain of injustice. It is thus understood that nonviolence, for Christians, is not mere tactical behavior but a person's way of being, the attitude of one who is convinced of God's love and power, who is not afraid to confront evil with the weapons of love and truth alone. Loving the enemy is the nucleus of the “Christian revolution,” a revolution not based on strategies of economic, political or media power. -Benedict XVI on February 18, 2007 in an address before the midday Angelus in St. Peter's Square
Today the concept of truth is viewed with suspicion, because truth is identified with violence. Over history there have, unfortunately, been episodes when people sought to defend the truth with violence. But they are two contrasting realities. Truth cannot be imposed with means other that itself! Truth can only come with its own light. Yet, we need truth...Without truth we are blind in the world, we have no path to follow. The great gift of Christ [who is the Truth] was that He enabled us to see the [true] face of God. --Benedict XVI on February 24, 2012 during a talk to the priests of Rome in Vatican City
Above all we want to make the voice of Jesus heard. He was a man of peace. It could be expected that, when God came to earth, he would be a man of great power, destroying the opposing forces; that he would be a man of powerful violence as an instrument of peace. Not at all! He came in weakness. He came with only the strength of love, totally without violence, even to the point of going to the cross. This is what shows us the true face of God: that violence never comes from God, never helps bring anything good, but is a destructive means and not the path to escape difficulties. He is thus a strong voice against every type of violence. He strongly invites all sides to renounce violence, even if they feel they are right...this is Jesus' true message: seek peace with the means of peace and leave violence aside. -Benedict XVI- A Good Friday meditation at St. Peter's Basilica on April 22, 2011
ON PEACE, TRUTH AND JESUS' WAY OF NONVIOLENT LOVE
Q. (by a reporter) “Is it a just war?”
To obtain the good of peace there must be a clear and conscious acknowledgment that violence is an unacceptable evil and that it never solves problems. Violence is a lie. It goes against the truth of our faith, the truth of our humanity, the truth about Jesus. Violence destroys what it claims to defend; the dignity, the life, the freedom of human beings. What is needed is a great effort to form consciences and to educate the younger generation to goodness, to nonviolence, to love.
-Pope John Paul II- Message for World Day of Peace 2005
Q. (by a reporter) “Is it a just war?”
A. “Well, just look in the catechism where it teaches about just war and if you can say it is a just war then you really don't know the catechism... There's no such thing in Catholic teaching as a preemptive war that could ever be justified...There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq to say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a just war.” - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) just before the 2003 US invasion of Iraq
On the first day of the year I would like to address an appeal to the consciences of all who belong to armed groups of any kind. I say to each and every one: stop, think and abandon the path of violence! At the moment this step might seem impossible to you; but if you have the courage to take it, God will assist you and you will feel returning to your hearts the joy of peace which perhaps you have forgotten for some time. I entrust this appeal to the intercession of Mary, the Most Holy Mother of God. -Benedict XVI – 2010 World Day of Peace and Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
This page of the Gospel (Luke 6:27) is rightly considered the “magna carta” of Christian Nonviolence; it does not consist in surrendering to evil—as claims a false interpretation of “turn the other cheek” (Luke 6:29) –but in responding to evil with good (Romans 12:17-21), and thus breaking the chain of injustice. It is thus understood that nonviolence, for Christians, is not mere tactical behavior but a person's way of being, the attitude of one who is convinced of God's love and power, who is not afraid to confront evil with the weapons of love and truth alone. Loving the enemy is the nucleus of the “Christian revolution,” a revolution not based on strategies of economic, political or media power. -Benedict XVI on February 18, 2007 in an address before the midday Angelus in St. Peter's Square
Today the concept of truth is viewed with suspicion, because truth is identified with violence. Over history there have, unfortunately, been episodes when people sought to defend the truth with violence. But they are two contrasting realities. Truth cannot be imposed with means other that itself! Truth can only come with its own light. Yet, we need truth...Without truth we are blind in the world, we have no path to follow. The great gift of Christ [who is the Truth] was that He enabled us to see the [true] face of God. --Benedict XVI on February 24, 2012 during a talk to the priests of Rome in Vatican City
Above all we want to make the voice of Jesus heard. He was a man of peace. It could be expected that, when God came to earth, he would be a man of great power, destroying the opposing forces; that he would be a man of powerful violence as an instrument of peace. Not at all! He came in weakness. He came with only the strength of love, totally without violence, even to the point of going to the cross. This is what shows us the true face of God: that violence never comes from God, never helps bring anything good, but is a destructive means and not the path to escape difficulties. He is thus a strong voice against every type of violence. He strongly invites all sides to renounce violence, even if they feel they are right...this is Jesus' true message: seek peace with the means of peace and leave violence aside. -Benedict XVI- A Good Friday meditation at St. Peter's Basilica on April 22, 2011
