Pope Francis “Peace,” said Pope Francis. “Peace, this word sums up all the goods to which every person and..."

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received letters of credence from a group of ambassadors to the Holy See on Thursday morning. The ambassadors hail from Ethiopia, India, Jamaica, Liberia, South Africa, Sudan, and Switzerland. In remarks prepared for the occasion and delivered to the ambassadors in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace on Thursday morning, Pope Francis spoke of diplomacy as a service in the cause of peace.

“Peace,” said Pope Francis. “This word sums up all the goods to which every person and all human societies aspire.” 

The Holy Father went on to say, “Even the commitment with which we seek to promote diplomatic relations has, in the final analysis, no other purpose than this: to build peace in the human family,” through the promotion of justice and integral human development. “It is,” he said, “a goal never fully achieved,” and one that requires each new generation to commit itself anew to its pursuit.

Pope Francis went on to highlight two issues that he said pose urgent challenges to the pursuit of peace: the arms trade and forced migration.

“Everyone talks about peace,” he said, “all claim to want it, but unfortunately the proliferation of weapons of any kind leads in the opposite direction.” He went on to say that the arms trade has the effect of complicating and averting conflict resolution, especially since commerce in arms often operates largely outside the law. “As we gather in this Apostolic See, which by its nature is invested with a special service to the cause of peace,” said Pope Francis, “let us join our voices in hoping that the international community should give rise to a new season of courageous and concerted effort,” against the trade in arms.

Turning to forced migration, the Holy Father called the problem a “complex phenomenon” and recognized considerable efforts are being made by international organizations, states, social forces, and also religious communities and the volunteer sector, to respond effectively to the gravest emergencies. “It is time,” he said, “to deal with the issue in a serious and responsible political perspective, involving all levels,” from the global to the local.

Pope Francis concluded by renewing expressions of the Holy See’s determination to continue to work together with its diplomatic partners and the whole international community to pursue justice and peace on the basis of universally recognized human rights, and promised the new ambassadors that the Church’s universal governing structures are available to their countries in that pursuit.


Text from Vatican Radio website