Pope John Paul II addresses the world:
Let Us Give Children
a Future of Peace
Following are excerpts taken from the Holy
Father’s Message for the celebration of the World Day of Peace, January
1, 1996. He chose to deliver his 1996 plea for peace on December 8, 1995, the
Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
When Pope Benedict XV asked Our Lady to
show humanity the way to peace, Our Lady came in response eight days later to
Fatima and gave the only solution. Today Jesus and Mary’s command for
peace has not yet been fulfilled.
The present-day Holy Father, Pope John Paul II is
making a plea to us. Our Lady now is expecting us to respond to this newest
appeal for peace from a Pontiff. But She has already done Her part by giving us
the Heaven-sent formula. Will we respond and do our part to assist the Holy
Father so he can finally consecrate Russia according to Her request and bring
about Her promised triumph and promised Peace?
Taken from L’Osservatore
Romano December 13, 1995
 At the beginning of
this new year, my thoughts turn once again to children and to their legitimate
hope for love and peace.
I feel bound to mention in a
particular way children who are suffering and those who often grow to adulthood
without even having experienced peace.
Children’s faces should
always be happy and trusting, but at times they are full of sadness and fear:
How much have these children already seen and suffered in the course of their
short lives!
Let us give children
a future of
peace!
This is the confident appeal
which I make to men and women of good will, and I invite everyone to help
children to grow up in an environment of authentic peace. This is their right,
and it is our duty.
I begin by thinking of the
great crowds of children whom I have met during the years of my Pontificate,
especially during my Apostolic Visits to every continent: joyful children who
are full of happiness. My thoughts turn to them at the beginning of this new
year. It is my hope that all children of the world will be able to begin 1996
in happiness and to enjoy a peaceful childhood, with the help of responsible
adults.
I pray that everywhere a
harmonious relationship between adults and children will promote a climate of
peace and authentic well-being. Sadly, many of the world’s children are
innocent victims of war. In recent years millions of them have been wounded or
killed: a veritable slaughter.
The special protection
accorded to children by international law has been widely disregarded, and the
dramatic increase of regional and inter-ethnic conflicts has made it difficult
to implement the protective measures called for by humanitarian
regulations.
Children have even become
targets of snipers, their schools deliberately destroyed, and the hospitals
where they are cared for bombed. In the face of such horrendous misdeeds, how
can we fail to speak out with one voice in condemnation? The deliberate killing
of a child is one of the most disturbing signs of the breakdown of all respect
for human life ...
In addition to the children
who have been killed, my thoughts also turn to those who have been maimed
during or after these conflicts. I likewise think of young people who are
systematically hunted down, raped or killed during so-called “ethnic
cleansings”.
Children are not only victims
of the violence of wars; many are forced to take an active part in them. In
some countries of the world it has come to the point where even very young boys
and girls are compelled to serve in the army of the warring parties. Enticed by
the promise of food and schooling, they are confined to remote camps, where
they suffer hunger and abuse and are encouraged to kill even people from their
own villages. Often they are sent ahead to clear minefields. Clearly, the life
of children has little value for those who use them in this way! ...
“Welcome Orphans with
Love”
The humanitarian and religious
organizations which attempt to relieve these inhuman sufferings deserve
heartfelt respect. Thanks are also owed to those generous individuals and
families who welcome orphans with love, and do everything they can to heal
their traumas and to help them to fit once more into the communities from which
they came.
The memory of the millions of
children who have been killed, and the sad faces of so many others who are
suffering compel us to take every possible measure to safeguard or re-establish
peace, and to bring conflicts and wars to an end ...
Jesus, the Way of Peace
Peace is a gift of God; but
men and women must first accept this gift in order to build a peaceful world.
People can do this only if they have a childlike simplicity of heart. This is
one of the most profound and paradoxical aspects of the Christian message: to
become child-like is more than just a moral requirement but a dimension of the
mystery of the Incarnation itself.
The Son of God did not come in
power and glory, as he will at the end of the world, but as a child, needy and
poor. Fully sharing our human condition in all things but sin (cf. Heb. 4:15),
he also took on the frailty and hope for the future which are part of being a
child. After that decisive moment for the history of humanity, to despise
childhood means to despise the One who showed the greatness of his love by
humbling himself and forsaking all glory in order to redeem mankind.
Jesus identified with the
little ones. When the Apostles were arguing about who was the greatest, He
“took a child and put him by His side, and said to them, ‘Whoever
receives this child in My name, receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives
Him Who sent Me’.” (Lk. 9:47-48) The Lord also forcefully warned us
against giving scandal to children: “Whoever causes one of these little
ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great
millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the
sea.” (Mt. 18:6)
Jesus asked the disciples to
become “children” again. When they tried to turn away the little
ones who were pressing in upon Him, He said indignantly: “Let the
children come to Me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the Kingdom of
God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a
child shall not enter it” (Mk. 10:14-15) ...
To become like a little child
— with complete trust in the Father and with the meekness taught by the
Gospel — is not only an ethical imperative; it is a reason for hope. Even
where the difficulties are so great as to lead to discouragement and the power
of evil so overwhelming as to dishearten, those who can rediscover the
simplicity of a child can begin to hope anew. This is possible above all for
those who know they can trust in a God who desires harmony among all people in
the peaceful communion of his Kingdom ...
Let us give children a future
of peace!
From the Vatican, 8 December
1995. Joannes Paulus II
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