To the Diplomatic Corps (2 November 1982)

On Tuesday, 2 November 1982, the Holy Father addressed the Diplomatic Corps in Madrid, saying, “If it is true that diplomacy is the art of making peace, it is consequently the art of working for justice between peoples and for the common good.”

Excellencies, Ladies, Gentlemen.

1. It is a source of satisfaction that the pastoral visit to this nation offers the opportunity to meet you, illustrious members of the diplomatic corps, who are carrying out such an important mission in this noble country.

You constitute a specialized body which, as a whole and in its various activities, presents the image of that broad reality which is the community of Nations. For this reason, in paying you the homage of my cordial esteem, I also greet each of the countries and peoples of which you are the high representatives.

Yours is undoubtedly a great mission. If it is true that diplomacy is the art of making peace, it is consequently the art of working for justice between peoples and for the common good. Every effort directed towards the victory of justice in itself strengthens peace, which is an indispensable condition for true progress, that is, for an orderly use of the earth's goods. You, therefore, participate with your profession in the great work of peace, justice and the common good.

2. You know well, on the other hand, that the Church works incessantly to achieve these objectives, since her mystery is aimed at establishing in hearts not only the aspiration, but the determined will to collaborate courageously in the realization of the justice, of a brotherly solidarity and of widespread and justly distributed well-being.

In the gesture of courtesy expressed by your presence I believe I discover a sign of consideration towards the activity of the Church and the Holy See in favor of humanity. It is certainly a service of a transcendent nature, but at the same time extremely concrete, which fits into the living context of human coexistence.

Indeed, faced with the current social, economic and political crises; in the face of painful conflicts between Nations; before the solitude of man in his search for authentic and perennial values ​​and meanings, the Church places her truths, affirms the superiority of the spirit, supporting the ethical sense of history and exhorting transcendent goals.

3. Your mission places you day after day in contact with the reality of the international situation that constantly challenges you: the duty to defend the interests of your respective countries is incumbent on you, but you are aware that these interests are related to those of other peoples; that there is a close interdependence that we could call planetary.

Indeed, the problems that arise, the causes that form their basis, the solutions that are required, have acquired a global dimension. I would even dare to say that it is dangerous for all countries and for each of them to place themselves outside of such a complex universal vision.

This, in turn, necessarily requires solidarity between peoples, that is, mutual cooperation. As I said in Geneva last June 15, addressing the International Labor Conference: "To create a world of justice and peace, solidarity must destroy the foundations of hatred, selfishness, injustice, too frequently erected ideological principles or the essential law of the life of society" (John Paul II, Allocutio Genavae, ad eos qui LXVIII conventui Conferentiae ab omnibus nationibus de humano labore interfuere habita, 9, die 15 iun. 1982 : Teachings of John Paul II, V, 2 [1982] 2261).

As you can easily understand, the first solidarity required is that directed at the defense of moral values; solidarity aimed at solving all human problems must be combined with it, including, obviously, those of an economic nature.

I would like to add: solidarity, not only for the purposes that require it, but in itself is an ethical value, a moral obligation, according to which every people, seeking their own good, must worry about the good of all others. It is a requirement of the principle of interdependence to which I referred earlier.

4. On the other hand, the necessary function of ethics in international relations cannot be surprising; Behind every State or Government there are always peoples, groups of men and, more concretely, people endowed with spiritual dignity, subjects of inalienable rights and duties. The human person, with his transcendent and eternal needs, is the criterion and measure of the efforts of every policy, including international ones.

From this point of view, the words of the encyclical Redemptor Hominis seem appropriate to me , inserted in a similar context: "The rights of civil power cannot be understood in any other way except on the basis of respect for the objective and inviolable rights of man" ( John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, 17). In other words, the power of states and international relations must be implemented according to the ethical norms that the dignity of peoples and individuals require.

Moreover, recognizing that people are subjects of rights and duties and of a superior destiny is recognizing that they are actors in their own history and in their own progressive humanization; who are responsible for activities aimed at realizing the vocation of the human person and giving meaning to existence as a human existence.

5. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. If I wanted to make these considerations with you, who are specialists in reaching an agreement and masters in dialogue, it is because I am convinced of the irreplaceable contribution that you are called to make with the diplomatic service.

These are my best wishes to you, called to cooperate for the good of your countries, while at the same time increasing the good of all others: may you know how to use your strengths, experience and talents in favor of building a world that is increasingly more supportive and human.

Upon your people, upon your noble purposes and efforts, upon your families, and finally upon those who trust in your service, I invoke copious blessings from Almighty God.

© Copyright 1982 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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