The Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See held its traditional audience with Pope Francis.
In addition to congratulating the new year, the Pontiff highlighted the growth of the "diplomatic family". In this regard, he welcomed the new diplomatic relations with the Sultanate of Oman, the appointment of the Pontifical Resident Representative in Hanoi and the Supplementary Agreement with Kazakhstan.
Francis also mentioned special anniversaries in 2023, such as "the centenary of diplomatic relations with the Republic of Panama, the seventieth anniversary of relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the sixtieth anniversary of relations with the Republic of Korea and the fiftieth anniversary of relations with Australia".
The "pieces" of World War III
The Pope began his speech by focusing on the theme that ran through his words: peace. Peace is "first of all a gift of God" and "at the same time it is our responsibility". This task also includes the role of the Holy See, which must "within the international community, be a prophetic voice and a call to conscience". Francis alluded, once again, to the third world war in pieces that, in the pontiff's opinion, is ravaging our world.
Among these pieces that occupy the Pope's head and heart, Francis recalled what is happening in Israel and Palestine and wanted to condemn the terrorist attack of October 7 and "every form of terrorism and extremism". The Pope reiterated his "appeal to all parties involved to agree to a cease-fire on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and for the immediate release of all hostages in Gaza. I ask that the Palestinian population receive humanitarian aid and that hospitals, schools and places of worship be provided with all the necessary protection."
He also called on the "international community to promote with determination the solution of two states, one Israeli and one Palestinian, as well as a special internationally guaranteed status for the City of Jerusalem, so that Israelis and Palestinians can finally live in peace and security".
This conflict adds to the instability of an area fraught with tensions, as underlined by the Pope, who did not forget in his speech "the Syrian people, who live in economic and political instability, aggravated by the earthquake of last February", as well as "the social and economic situation in which the dear Lebanese people are plunged".
In front of the international representatives, the Pope recalled the conflict that year after year plagues the Rohingya community in Myanmar.
Also the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which is approaching its third year, has had a place in the Pope's words to which he stressed that "we cannot allow a conflict that is becoming more and more gangrenous, to the detriment of millions of people, to prolong itself".
The tense situation in the South Caucasus between Armenia and Azerbaijan was also part of the Holy Father's speech.
Francis recalled "the dramatic humanitarian situation of the inhabitants of that region", and made an "appeal to encourage the return of the displaced to their homes in a legal and safe manner, as well as to respect the places of worship of the various religious denominations present in the area".
The conflicts that are developing on the African continent are one of the Pope's constant appeals, materialized, in fact, in his trips to this continent. Thus, the Pope wished to recall "the suffering of millions of people due to the multiple humanitarian crises affecting various sub-Saharan countries, due to international terrorism, complex socio-political problems, and the devastating effects of climate change, to which must be added the consequences of military coups d'état in some countries and of certain electoral processes characterized by corruption, intimidation and violence".
Among these conflicts, Francis referred to the violence in Ethiopia as well as the situations of displaced persons in Cameroon, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
Finally, the Pope turned his gaze to his continent of origin, South America, highlighting the strong tensions between some countries, for example between Venezuela and Guyana and his concern for "the situation in Nicaragua; it is a crisis that has been dragging on for some time with painful consequences for the whole of Nicaraguan society, in particular for the Catholic Church".
Immorality of nuclear weapons
The Pope wanted to emphasize that "modern wars no longer take place only on defined battlefields and that there no longer seems to be a distinction between military and civilian targets". In this regard, he stressed that "serious violations of international humanitarian law are war crimes, and that it is not enough to highlight them, but it is necessary to prevent them".
Francis made a particular denunciation of the enormous amount of money that states spend on armaments, and in particular he wanted to reiterate "once again the immorality of manufacturing and possessing nuclear weapons".
In addition to this, he made a strong call to "root out the causes of wars, the first of which is hunger and also natural and environmental catastrophes".
As he has been doing in recent years, the drama of migration also had a place in the Pope's address to the diplomatic corps. Recalling his recent trip to Marseilles, the Pope pointed out how these people are forgotten by many and stressed the need that "migration must be regulated in order to welcome, promote, accompany and integrate migrants, while respecting the culture, sensitivity and security of the people who are responsible for their reception and integration.
On the other hand, it is also necessary to remember the right to be able to remain in one's own country and the consequent need to create the conditions for this right to be truly put into practice".
Call for a ban on surrogacy
Perhaps one of the most novel topics on the Pope's agenda before the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See was the Holy Father's call for the prohibition of the practice of "so-called surrogate motherhood, which gravely offends the dignity of women and children; and is based on the exploitation of the mother's situation of material need".
In this regard, the Pope made an "appeal to the international community to commit itself to the universal prohibition of this practice. At every moment of its existence, human life must be preserved and protected, even though I note with regret, especially in the West, the persistent spread of a culture of death which, in the name of a false compassion, discards children, the elderly and the sick".
All this is part of what the Pope has described as "ideological colonizations that provoke wounds and divisions between States, instead of favoring the construction of peace".
Dialogue for peace
The last part of the Pope's speech focused on the efforts needed to achieve this peace. Efforts that pass, in the first place, through the strengthening of the structures of multilateral diplomacy that emerged after the Second World War, now weakened through the recovery of "the roots, the spirit and the values that gave rise to these bodies, while taking into account the new context and paying due attention to those who do not feel adequately represented by the structures of international organizations".
"The road to peace passes through political and social dialogue, for this is the basis of civil coexistence in a modern political community," the Holy Father emphasized, adding to this area of dialogue that of "interreligious dialogue, which requires above all the protection of religious freedom and respect for minorities. It pains us, for example, to note that more and more countries are adopting models of centralized control of religious freedom, with the massive use of technology. Elsewhere, minority religious communities often find themselves in an increasingly dramatic situation. In some cases they are in danger of extinction, due to a combination of terrorist actions, attacks on cultural heritage and more underhand measures such as the proliferation of anti-conversion laws, manipulation of electoral rules and financial restrictions."
Artificial intelligence and technological progress also emerge as necessary agents in this dialogue for peace as long as it preserves "the centrality of the human person, whose contribution cannot and will never be replaced by an algorithm or a machine".
Road to the Jubilee 2025
The Pope closed his speech by referring to the upcoming Jubilee Year 2025. "Perhaps today more than ever we need the Jubilee year," said the pontiff, "the Jubilee is the announcement that God never abandons his people".
Referring to Isaiah, Francis expressed his wish that the future Jubilee year would be for all "the time when swords are broken and ploughshares are made of them; the time when one nation no longer lifts up sword against another, nor learns the art of war".
