Message for the World Day of Peace 2022

01/01/2022

On the occasion of the celebration of the 55th World Day of Peace, which falls, as usual, every first day of the year, the Holy Father Pope Francis published a Message titled:

"Dialogue Between Generations, Education and Work: Tools for Building Lasting Peace". 

Today the path of peace, which Saint Paul VI called by the new name of integral development, remains sadly distant from the real lives of many men and women and thus from our human family, which is now entirely interconnected. Despite numerous efforts aimed at constructive dialogue between nations, the deafening noise of war and conflict is intensifying. While diseases of pandemic proportions are spreading, the effects of climate change and environmental degradation are worsening, the tragedy of hunger and thirst is increasing, and an economic model based on individualism rather than on solidary sharing continues to prevail. As in the days of the prophets of old, so in our own day the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth constantly make themselves heard, pleading for justice and peace.

Here I wish to propose three paths for building a lasting peace. First, dialogue between generations as the basis for the realization of shared projects. Second, education as a factor of freedom, responsibility and development. Finally, labour as a means for the full realization of human dignity. These are three indispensable elements for "making possible the creation of a social covenant", without which every project of peace turns out to be insubstantial.