Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Message for the World Day of Peace

VATICAN CITY, 11 DEC 2008 (VIS) - Today Benedict XVI's message for the celebration of the XLII World Day of Peace (1 January 2009) on the theme "Fighting Poverty to Build Peace" was published in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Below follow some extracts of the message:

"Poverty is often a contributory factor or a compounding element in conflicts, including armed ones. In turn, these conflicts fuel further tragic situations of poverty".

"Fighting poverty requires attentive consideration of the complex phenomenon of globalization. ... The reference to globalization should also alert us to the spiritual and moral implications of the question, urging us, in our dealings with the poor, to set out from the clear recognition that we all share in a single divine plan: we are called to form one family in which all - individuals, peoples and nations - model their behaviour according to the principles of fraternity and responsibility".

"We know that other, non-material forms of poverty exist which are not the direct and automatic consequence of material deprivation. For example, in advanced wealthy societies, there is evidence of marginalization, as well as affective, moral and spiritual poverty, seen in people whose interior lives are disoriented and who experience various forms of malaise despite their economic prosperity. On the one hand, I have in mind what is known as 'moral underdevelopment', and on the other hand the negative consequences of 'superdevelopment'. Nor can I forget that, in so-called 'poor' societies, economic growth is often hampered by cultural impediments which lead to inefficient use of available resources".

"Poverty is often considered a consequence of demographic change. ... The extermination of millions of unborn children, in the name of the fight against poverty, actually constitutes the destruction of the poorest of all human beings. And yet it remains the case that in 1981, around 40% of the world's population was below the threshold of absolute poverty, while today that percentage has been reduced by as much as a half, and whole peoples have escaped from poverty despite experiencing substantial demographic growth. This goes to show that resources to solve the problem of poverty do exist, even in the face of an increasing population".
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 9:22 AM