Alfredo Borba / Wikimedia Commons
CV NEWS FEED // In his Dec. 12 message for the World Day of Peace, Pope Francis called for the abolition of the death penalty and stressed the urgent need to address issues such as poor treatment of migrants, environmental degradation, and debt between nations.
The World Day of Peace, which will be observed on Jan. 1, 2025, carries the theme “Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace.”
Framed within the context of the Jubilee Year of Hope, the Pope’s message extended heartfelt wishes of hope and peace to all people, particularly the “downtrodden” and those burdened by societal judgment, overwhelming challenges, or their past.
The Holy Father reflected on the ancient Jewish Jubilee, a time of forgiveness and liberation, as a model for the Church’s celebrations this year. He called on the faithful to respond to the “desperate plea for help” from oppressed peoples enduring injustice and complicity, as well as the devastation of the earth, for which he stated that “[e]ach of us must feel in some way responsible.”
According to the Pope, “distinct yet interconnected” systemic issues are causing turmoil in the world, and immediate cultural and structural change is necessary.
“I think, in particular,” Pope Francis wrote, “of all manner of disparities, the inhuman treatment meted out to migrants, environmental decay, the confusion willfully created by disinformation, the refusal to engage in any form of dialogue and the immense resources spent on the industry of war. All these, taken together, represent a threat to the existence of humanity as a whole.”
Addressing the global “debt crisis,” the Holy Father called for international solidarity and justice, particularly in recognizing and addressing the “ecological debt” between wealthier nations and poorer ones.
“I have repeatedly stated that foreign debt has become a means of control whereby certain governments and private financial institutions of the richer countries unscrupulously and indiscriminately exploit the human and natural resources of poorer countries, simply to satisfy the demands of their own markets,” he wrote.
The Holy Father outlined three propositions “capable of restoring dignity to the lives of entire peoples and enabling them to set them out anew on the journey of hope.”
First, quoting the appeal of Saint John Paul II during the 2000 Jubilee, Pope Francis called on wealthy countries to consider “reducing substantially, if not cancelling outright, the international debt which seriously threatens the future of many nations.”
Second, the Pope asked for a “firm commitment to respect the dignity of human life from conception to natural death,” urging that every individual should value their own life and have hope for a prosperous future for themselves and their children.
He noted that without this hope, people may hesitate to bring new lives into the world. He proposed as a step toward promoting a culture of life that the death penalty be abolished worldwide.
Finally, the Pope proposed directing a fixed percentage of military armament budgets toward a global fund which aims to “eradicate hunger and facilitate in the poorer countries educational activities aimed at promoting sustainable development and combating climate change.”
“We need to work at eliminating every pretext that encourages young people to regard their future as hopeless or dominated by the thirst to avenge the blood of their dear ones,” he wrote.
Pope Francis encouraged all to embark on a journey of mercy and solidarity.
“Those who take up these proposals and set out on the journey of hope will surely glimpse the dawn of the greatly desired goal of peace,” he wrote.
The Pope later concluded, “Peace does not only come with the end of wars but with the dawn of a new world, a world in which we realize that we are different, closer and more fraternal than we ever thought possible.”
