To the Diplomatic Corps (13 June 1984)

On Wednesday, 13 June 1984, the Holy Father addressed the Diplomatic Corps* in Saint-Michel College (Fribourg). To them the Pope said, “ All those who are part of this branch of the political activity of the State, at whatever level of the hierarchy they belong, have the honor and the obligation to be aware of their specific responsibilities vis-à-vis the Authorities of their country, but also to the international political Community in the midst of which they work.”

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. During my pastoral visits to the various countries, I always reserve a brief meeting with the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Government. I would like to emphasize the interest of such a meeting; I know that you also attach importance to it. It occupies a unique place among the others which bring together mainly Christians for a religious and pastoral purpose. It allows me to greet, through you persons, the civil Authorities and the peoples of many countries; some of these are now familiar to me through my travels; most are represented at the Holy See. And above all, I want to discuss with you the problems of the world community for which you have a mission and competence.

This mission is so important and delicate that it has always enjoyed, from antiquity to the present day, great respect and even a guarantee of inviolability for the person invested with such responsibility and for his freedom of action. This principle remains fundamental, even if we must regret certain facts which sometimes contradict it.

2. What I wish to emphasize in any case is the value of the work that falls to diplomats, for the benefit of their compatriots and world peace. They are people who, by their cultural training, their specific preparation, their abilities, their vision of men, things and events, their wisdom and their loyalty to their own country, are chosen for a prolonged mission or, in certain cases, for the solution of certain special affairs. All those who are part of this branch of the political activity of the State, at whatever level of the hierarchy they belong, have the honor and the obligation to be aware of their specific responsibilities vis-à-vis the Authorities of their country, but also to the international political Community in the midst of which they work. I am thinking of the Ambassadors and their collaborators. I am also thinking of the Representatives and Observers to the many international Organizations of great renown that have established their headquarters in this country.

Certainly, the evolution of times and societies has contributed to transforming certain external forms of classical diplomacy, to modifying some of its attributions and functions. The extraordinary speed of information and communications, the ease of contacts at the highest levels allow those responsible for national life to deal directly with many important matters for which your predecessors were once almost entirely responsible. But this does not diminish the reason for being of these indispensable collaborators who are diplomats. On the contrary, to the extent that new problems, interests and needs arise, where interdependence is accentuated, and collaborative relations between countries become more numerous and more complex, the presence abroad of experienced men, who are well versed in international life, who have a sense of responsibility and great integrity, remains indispensable. You remain those who transmit the instructions and express the will of your Governments, the discreet servants of the interests of your peoples, the workers of peace. A task perhaps not always well understood, but necessary, delicate and meritorious.

Your activity, in fact, is not autonomous nor left to strictly personal inspiration. The work of the diplomat is the expression, on the international level, of a certain way of conducting the destinies of this or that country. One could say that it is the reflection of the doctrinal principles or of the pragmatism that the government program includes for relations of all kinds with other countries. This function belongs to an eminent degree to the Heads of Mission who represent the person of the Head of State and play the role of official spokesperson for the policy of their Government.

Your mission confronts you with the vital problems of society in order to contribute to the progress of their solution. These are the great human objectives that I now evoke, as I do with the Heads of State themselves, because they are close to the heart of the Church.

3. You have to defend and promote the interests of your country. You have to create a favorable ground for commercial, financial and cultural exchanges between your country and others. You have to arouse and invigorate sympathies, or to erase antipathies which prevent normal contacts and friendships. You have to play your part in the field of bilateral politics and international politics. It is your responsibility to intervene in the burning and numerous problems which, at the present time, shake the whole world. You know them well. Each of them is likely to endanger the fragile and tottering peace: already existing regional conflicts; arms race; proliferation of nuclear weapons; hunger, drought and misery of all kinds in several parts of the globe; disregard for justice and human rights; ideological tensions, etc. Diplomacy is present in all these problems, acting according to its standards - courtesy, discretion, negotiation - in the face of the gravity of contemporary distress, to study the means of arriving at a satisfactory solution, the most just and the most effective, to avoid further suffering for peoples and to give them a glimmer of hope.

4. The country where you are currently exercising your diplomatic mission seems to be sheltered from the serious problems that I have just mentioned, but, by contrast, it offers a possibility of stepping back to grasp their importance at the level of other countries. Switzerland has fought to maintain peace, respectful coexistence between populations that are very diverse in their traditions and languages, to promote democracy and freedom at home; in the face of this, ruinous civil wars, conflicts between neighbouring countries, totalitarianism, the stifling of fundamental freedoms - and, among them, religious freedom - must be abhorrent to you. International terrorism, which strikes the innocent and destabilizes countries that aspire to peace, should not find favour or complicity in any Leader, even more so in diplomats whose mission does not support violent “solutions”. The growing phenomenon of political refugees - who are numerous here - must raise the fundamental question for you, not only of the reception and mutual assistance of your own countries, but of the unacceptable motives which push so many men and women to expatriate themselves in order to safeguard their freedom of thought and belief. The influx of a foreign workforce also gives rise to reflection on the working conditions and family living conditions of such workers. Finally, the generally comfortable situation of most citizens of this country - in terms of material goods and health - should not make you forget those who, in so many regions of the world, are deprived of the bare minimum. You will forget this all the less since Switzerland is home to international organisations which seek to address these problems.

5. You know well that the Church, whose mission is to spread the Gospel, is at the same time committed to promoting the integral dignity of man, without any other interest, whether political or economic. She continually recalls the essential principles in favour of the human person, of social harmony, of the rights of peoples, in favour of justice, peace and a true fraternity among all men.

To this end, and in its name, the Holy See offers its collaboration to those responsible for the common good; to them as to you, Gentlemen Heads of Mission present here, I express my esteem and my good wishes for the activity and efforts deployed to build a better world, founded on truth, justice, love and freedom, which are the only true pillars of peace in human society. This was the wish expressed by John XXIII in the encyclical “ Pacem in Terris ”, and he had experienced the diplomatic mission from the inside.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for your visit and I pray God to bless you, your families and your contribution to the good of humanity.

*Insegnamenti VII, 1 pp. 1731-1735.

L'Osservatore Romano 15.6.1984 p.4.

L'Osservatore Romano. Weekly edition in French n.25 p.15.

© Copyright 1984 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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