December 28, 2025 - "The Fifty-second World Day of Peace"

In his message for the fifty-second World Day of Peace, Pope Francis recalled the “Beatitudes of the Politician,” proposed by Vietnamese Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận (1928-2002):

 

Blessed be the politician with a lofty sense and deep understanding of his role.

Blessed be the politician who personally exemplifies credibility.

Blessed be the politician who works for the common good and not for his or her own interest.

Blessed be the politician who remains constant.

Blessed be the politician who works for unity.

Blessed be the politician who works to accomplish radical change.

Blessed be the politician who is capable of listening.

Blessed be the politician who is without fear.

 

After quoting these “Beatitudes of the Politician,” Pope Francis observed that every election and re-election, and every stage of public life, is an opportunity to return to the original point of reference that inspire justice and law.  The Holy Father believed that it was certain that good politics is at the service of peace.  Good politics also respected and promoted fundamental human rights, which were at the same time mutual obligations that enabled a bond of trust and gratitude to be forged between present and future generations.

 

At the end of his message for the fifty-second World Day of Peace, Pope Francis recalled that we celebrated the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted in the wake of the Second World War.  In this context, it is also good to remember the observation of Pope Saint John XXIII:  “Man’s awareness of his rights must inevitably lead him to the recognition of his duties.  The possession of rights involves a duty of implementing those rights, for they are the expression of a man’s personal dignity.  And the possession of rights also involves their recognition and respect by others.”

 

Pope Francis continued his observations by noting that peace was the fruit of a great political project grounded in the mutual responsibility and interdependence of human beings.  It was at the same time a challenge that demanded being taken up ever anew.  Peace entailed a conversion of heart and soul.  Peace was both interior and communal and had three inseparable aspects 

 

· Peace with oneself, rejecting inflexibility, anger, and impatience; in the words of St. Francis de Sales, showing a bit of sweetness toward oneself” in order to offer “a bit of sweetness to others;”

· Peace with others: family members, friends, strangers, the poor and the suffering, being unafraid to encounter them and listen to what they have to say;

· Peace with all creation, rediscovering the grandeur of God’s gift and our individual and share responsibility as inhabitants of this world and citizens and builders of the future.

In his concluding remarks Pope Francis stated that the politics of peace, conscious of and deeply concerned for every situation of human vulnerability, can always draw inspiration from the Magnificat, the hymn that Mary, the Mother of Christ the Savior and Prince of Peace, sang in the name of all humankind:  “He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.  He has shown the strength of his arms; he has scattered the proud in their conceit.  He has down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly…for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever” (Luke 1:50-55). Happy New Year!      Fr. John