Meeting with the Diplomatic Corps (30 June 1980)

On Monday, 30  June 1980, the Holy Father met with the Diplomatic Corps in Brasilia, to whom he spoke of the importance of diplomatic life “in the sense that it is based on the ability of men of good will to listen to each other, understand each other, find negotiated solutions, progress together, instead of seeking confrontations.” 

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

On this first day spent in the Brazilian capital, I am pleased to receive the Heads and members of the Diplomatic Representations accredited in this country. I warmly thank you for coming this afternoon to meet the Pope, who also has representatives in most of your countries.

As I address my most cordial greetings to each and every one of you, I am also thinking of all the nations to which you belong and which you represent in Brazil. To all those peoples scattered throughout the American continent and the other continents, I express the esteem and the most sincere wishes of the Church; which professes itself to be Catholic, that is, universal, open to all human societies, to which it wishes an original expansion, thanks to the development of all that is good in its country, in its culture, in its own men.

Your function as diplomats figures among the noble means that contribute to the rapprochement of peoples, to their reciprocal esteem, to their mutual understanding, to their exchanges, to their cultural or economic collaboration; in a word, to peace.

Diplomatic life is a life of great importance in the sense that it is based on the ability of men of good will to listen to each other, understand each other, find negotiated solutions, progress together, instead of seeking confrontations. Today more than ever, the problems of peace, security, and development are no longer limited to bilateral relations; It is a whole complex group in which each country must make its contribution to the improvement of international relations, not only to rule out conflicts or to reduce tensions, but also to face in solidarity the great problems of the future of humanity that they affect us all.

And in this regard, it is desirable that each person, especially those responsible for nations and, therefore, their representatives, have convictions and principles that serve to promote the true good of individuals, of peoples, within the Community. international. The Holy See also wants to bear witness to this, making its specific contribution at the level of consciences.

Within the framework of this brief meeting, I can hardly do more than evoke these principles of peace, both internally and externally... It may seem like a cliché to emphasize that each country has the duty to preserve its internal peace and security . But, in a certain way, it must "deserve" that peace, ensuring the common good of all and respect for rights. The common good of a society requires that that society be just. Where justice is lacking, society is threatened from within. This does not mean that the necessary transformations to lead to greater justice must be carried out with violence, revolution, bloodshed, because violence prepares a violent society and we Christians cannot admit it. But it must also be said that there are social transformations, sometimes profound,effectively and realistically, through peaceful reforms.

All citizens have this duty, but evidently in a special way those who exercise power, because power is at the service of social justice. Power has the right to show itself strong in the face of those who cultivate group selfishness, to the detriment of the whole. It must, in every way, be at the service of men, of every man, and above all of those who most need help; The Church, for her part, will endeavor to incessantly recall her concern for the "poor", for those who, in any case, are in inferior conditions. In no case is power allowed to violate the fundamental rights of man; and here I am not going to enumerate those that I have mentioned many times and in a special way in my speech on October 2 of last year before the United Nations.

With regard to other countries, each nation must be recognized as having the right to live in peace and security on its own soil, without suffering unjust external threats, be they of a military, economic or ideological nature. This fundamental point should be unanimous among all men of good will and, I would dare to say, especially diplomats. But non-interference is not enough; because that could not mean anything other than indifference towards the fate of the peoples who have not been favored by nature or by historical circumstances, to the point that today a large number of their children lack the least necessary for a life human dignity, be it food, hygiene or education. International solidarity must be promoted. Much is said about it but the realization is very modest or subject to conditions that suggest new threats. Peace, then, really needs solidarity development and not the accumulation of threatening weapons, or revolutionary impulses, as alreadyI recently remembered at UNESCO .

Only if we constantly face this world task of peace, in justice and development, will we find the words and deeds that, little by little, will build a world worthy of human beings: the one that God wants for men and whose responsibility he entrusts to them, clarifying their conscience. The confidence that you instill in me, dear diplomats, has prompted me to share this ideal with you. May God inspire you and bless you! May he bless your families! May he bless and protect your homelands! May the international community guide the paths of peace and brotherhood!

* L'Osservatore Romano. Weekly edition in Spanish, n.27, p.4, 6.

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