The Holy See has been celebrating the World Day of Peace for 49 years, and since 1968 it has also published a message dealing with some aspect of this great aspiration. After all this time, the effectiveness of this effort has been proven. Although the document of the Popes can hardly put a definitive end to conflicts, it does shed light on their causes and encourages us to combat situations that are incompatible with peace.
The theme chosen by Francis this year, calling to overcome indifference in order to conquer peace, points to the globalization of a tendency that is the cause of injustice and violence, and contradicts man's fundamental vocation to fraternity, as the Message says. The Pope understands that the condition for overcoming indifference towards others is to overcome it in our relationship with God; for this reason he calls for conversion of heart. But he does not cease to appeal firmly to the States to carry out concrete and courageous actions in favor of the most vulnerable people, together with adequate and far-reaching policies.
The theme of the Day is fully consonant with the general framework of the Year of Mercy, which has just begun. The Jubilee is already becoming an occasion for profound changes of attitude. It invites us to do so by means of visible and effective signs of various kinds. This is the case of the Holy Doors, which throughout the world invite people to walk and complete the path that leads to an encounter with the tenderness of God; or the invitation to approach the sacrament of Confession, which is even closer at this time, since reconciliation with God presupposes a direct experience of his mercy. Events such as the announced canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta also have the character of strong signs, capable of moving us. Dressed in her simple habit, revealing her consecration to God and to the service of the poor, she exemplifies the practical meaning of mercy in one of the principal forms in which it is expressed. And it is also an invitation to discover the possible expressions in which the works of mercy are concretized today, in our conditions.
