Meeting at the Vatican in Bergoglio with the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See for the traditional exchange of greetings. The hope that peace will come to Ukraine in 2025. On Palestine and Israel: “Let them live side by side.” In Syria and Lebanon, the Christian community must contribute to “institutional stability.”
Vatican City () – The “family of peoples” of the world – represented by the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, made up of 184 countries – gathered this morning around Pope Francis in the Hall of Blessing from the Vatican. An embrace that collects the fruits of the international commitment of Bergoglio, who in September made the longest trip of his pontificate to Southeast Asia and Oceania, and that is projected into the future based on important results, such as the extension of the Agreement on the appointment of bishops signed in October with China. The traditional exchange of New Year greetings was inaugurated by the words of Georgios F. Poulides, ambassador of Cyprus and dean of the group of officials. “Today’s meeting is nourished by the jubilee spirit,” he stated. Diplomacy must have the “courage to be creative to strengthen unity in diversity.”
In the brief words he gave at the beginning of his speech – before leaving the reading to Bishop Filippo Ciampanelli, undersecretary of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches – Pope Francis underlined the “family” nature of the meeting and hoped that the occasion would favor unity. , “leaving behind the conflicts that divide and rather rediscovering what unites.” As Dean Poulides had anticipated, the meeting with the Diplomatic Corps was imbued with the meanings that accompany the Holy Year that began on December 24 in San Pedro. “The proper meaning of the Jubilee is to “pause” in the frenzy that increasingly characterizes daily life,” said Bergoglio. The opportunity to pause allows us to “forgive offenses, support the weak and poor, let the land rest, practice justice, and renew hope.” This is, according to Francis, the mission of those who, engaged in diplomatic missions, practice “the highest form of charity, which is politics.”
Isaiah’s words were the common thread that accompanied the rest of the speech. Christ has come, says the prophet, “to bring good news to the poor, to bind up wounded hearts, to proclaim release to captives and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord” (Is 61 ,1-2a). They are practices that trace the path to follow towards the common good; although in the reality of the world they are taken little into account. “We begin this year while the world is torn by numerous conflicts, small and large, more or less known, and also by the resumption of execrable acts of terror,” he said. The planet we live on is full of “growing oppositions” and “increasingly polarized societies”: a climate that does not transmit confidence in the future at all, of which demarcation lines are the most obvious signs.
“This climate of insecurity drives us to erect new barriers and draw new borders, while others, such as the one that has divided the island of Cyprus for more than fifty years and the one that has divided the Korean peninsula in two for more than seventy years, remain firmly in place. foot,” he added. At the root of this rejection of everything that is “not known” are often misunderstandings of an identity nature, for which “diversities are a reason for suspicion, distrust and fear.” But bordering areas are also meeting places. “The term “border” indicates not a place that separates, but rather unites, “where one ends together” (cum-finis), where one can find the other, know him or her, and dialogue with him,” he added.
For all this, it is more important than ever to seek what Pope Francis has called a “diplomacy of hope,” inspired by the words of Isaiah and the Jubilee. Firstly, it works to “encourage dialogue with everyone”, which is the first step to “deactivate the bombs of selfishness, pride and human arrogance”. To achieve this, it is essential to understand one another through language: today Bergoglio condemned the “attempt to instrumentalize multilateral documents” and the phenomenon of “cancel culture.” He also made a strong denunciation of terrorism in Germany and the United States, anti-Semitism and the “right to abortion”, which he considers “unacceptable.” He also highlighted the need to reform some institutions, recovering the spirit that accompanied the signing of the Declaration of Helsinki in 1975.
Forgiveness is one of the fundamental characteristics of the “diplomacy of hope.” A practice that allows “in an era full of open and latent conflicts, to rebuild relationships torn by hatred and violence.” He dedicated his first thought to the war that is being fought at the gates of Europe: “My wish for 2025 is that the entire international community strives above all to put an end to the war that has been bathing the country in blood for almost three years.” tortured Ukraine and has caused an enormous number of victims,” Ciampanelli read. The next sponsorship was dedicated to the conflict between Palestine and Israel: “That Israelis and Palestinians can rebuild the bridges of dialogue and mutual trust – he said – so that future generations can live together, in peace and security, in both States, and Jerusalem is the “city of encounter”, where Christians, Jews and Muslims coexist in harmony and respect.”
Another very significant reference in his words to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See was the one he made to Myanmar, “where the population suffers enormously due to the continuous armed clashes that force people to flee their homes and live in fear.” ”. He also highlighted the need to guarantee religious freedom everywhere, without which “there is no true peace.” Especially in Syria, “which after years of war and devastation, appears to be on a path to stabilization.” Pope Francis is hopeful that the country, which has just emerged from years of rule, with the help of the international community will be a “land of peaceful coexistence.” And with respect to Lebanon, he stated: “With the decisive help of the Christian component, it will be able to have the institutional stability necessary to face the serious economic and social situation and rebuild the south of the country hit by the war.”
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