THERE IS NO PEACE WITHOUT TRUST
On December 8, 1967, Paul VI instituted the Peace Day, proposing to dedicate the first day of the year to the theme of peace. On that occasion, Paul VI addressed the faithful and all international bodies, inviting them to join together each year to reflect “on the fundamental good of peace”, so that “with its just and beneficial balance” it might “dominate the course of future history.
Paul VI declared that peace is based on “a new spirit”, “a new mentality about man and his duties and his destinies”, and not “on a false rhetoric of words”. The pillars of peace, wrote the Holy Father, are “sincerity, justice and love in relations between States and, within each nation, between citizens among themselves and with their rulers” – “peace is not pacifism, it does not hide a vile and lazy conception of life, but proclaims the highest and most universal values of life: truth, justice, freedom, love”. Finally, he declared “to educate the world to love peace, to build it, to defend it against the rebirth of war (nationalistic emulations, armaments, revolutionary provocations, hatred of races, spirit of revenge) and against the pitfalls of a tactical pacifism, which narcotizes the adversary to be defeated, or disarms in spirits the sense of justice, duty and sacrifice”.
Today, can we say that we really know the meaning of these words? Are we sure that we have understood the meaning of Truth, Justice, Freedom, Love? Can we say that we are Righteous Men?
We are surrounded by hatred, spirit of revenge, provocation, bewilderment of ethics and morality! Exactly the opposite of what Paul VI asked, we live in falsehood, in an age where the word is worth less than nothing, where the handshake is nothing.
St. Thomas Aquinas said: “You do not possess the Truth, but it is the Truth that possesses you” and again “the first altar of man is his conscience”.
The story tells of many people who, by their strength of thought and their actions, have made a difference, changing the world.
Norberto Bobbio had a theory about pacifism considering peace a superior good, so desirable that he considered every effort to achieve it worthy of being pursued. He aimed at a universal, perpetual peace, as Kant defined it in his 1795 essay (Per la pace perpetua Un progetto filosofico di Immanuel Kant) the most famous and significant work of legal pacifism. In Bobbiana’s reflection, the philosopher from Turin asserted his own theory, that there are three types of pacifism: instrumental, institutional and finalistic. (The Idea of Peace And Pacifism).
I believe that man is not by nature led to war and that it is possible to achieve serenity among men, rediscovering ancient values, retracing history we could avoid mistakes, aiming at a perpetual peace. It will take a long time for mankind to become aware of all this, following the words of Tiziano Terzaniche: “let us educate our children to be honest and not cunning”.
The International Diplomatic Institute lives with its representatives in the scrupulous respect of the binding rules and unwritten laws, which impose the recognition of equal human dignity for all, pillars on which the Institute intends to build a social fabric of perpetual coexistence, considering them fundamental for a world of peace inspired by the teachings of Thomas Aquinas, on man in relation to his neighbour, the destiny of man according to the philosopher is precisely to reach the absolute good, starting from his earthly life, everyday life, learning to know and master his passions, to eradicate his vices, to acquire and preserve the virtues and true values, seeking happiness in the highest and most perfect work of Man, which is this according to St. Thomas.
The consideration of the truth with the exercise of all sciences with the exercise of all professions in a correct way, behold, this living in peace with one’s neighbor leads man to live in happiness.
We can read wonderful works by Thomas such as the Summa Theologiæ la Quaestio XI de veritate, entitled De magistro, il De ente et essentia, works that lead us to say that he was a unique and extraordinary thinker, that he combined his powerful systematic capacity, giving a clear and certain sense of things. A theorist capable of describing the learning process as no one had been able to do, was perhaps even superior to Plato.
On the 52nd World Day of Peace, which is celebrated on January 1, 2019, the International Diplomatic Institute associates the message of Pope Francis, on the theme “GOOD POLICY IS AT THE SERVICE OF PEACE”.
I would like to see a greater commitment by States to the current migratory phenomena, with the support of the United Nations, which aims to combat this climate of division and discord.
The President, Paolo Giordani