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Pope Benedict XVI- Addresses |
Papal
Address to Politicians
"Public Service Enables Us to
Grow in Wisdom, Integrity, and Personal
Fulfillment"
Nicosia, Cyprus
June 5, 2010
Mr President,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am grateful that, as part of my Apostolic
Journey to Cyprus, I have this opportunity
to meet with the political and civil
authorities of the Republic, as well as the
members of the diplomatic community. I thank
President Christofias for the gracious words
of greeting which he expressed in your name
and I willingly reciprocate with my own
respectful good wishes for your important
work, recalling in particular the happy
occasion of the 50th anniversary of the
Republic’s Constitution.
I have just laid a wreath at the memorial of
the late Archbishop Makarios, the first
President of the Republic of Cyprus. Like
him, each of you in your lives of public
service must be committed to serving the
good of others in society, whether at the
local, national or international level. This
is a noble vocation which the Church
esteems. When carried out faithfully, public
service enables us to grow in wisdom,
integrity and personal fulfillment. Plato,
Aristotle and the Stoics gave great
importance to such fulfillment -- eudemonia
- as a goal for every human being, and saw
in moral character the way to reach that
goal. For them, and for the great Islamic
and Christian philosophers who followed in
their footsteps, the practice of virtue
consisted in acting in accordance with right
reason, in the pursuit of all that is true,
good and beautiful.
From a religious perspective, we are members
of a single human family created by God and
we are called to foster unity and to build a
more just and fraternal world based on
lasting values. In so far as we fulfil our
duty, serve others and adhere to what is
right, our minds become more open to deeper
truths and our freedom grows strong in its
allegiance to what is good. My predecessor
Pope John Paul the Second once wrote that
moral obligation should not be seen as a law
imposing itself from without and demanding
obedience, but rather as an expression of
God’s own wisdom to which human freedom
readily submits (cf. Veritatis Splendor,
41). As human beings we find our ultimate
fulfillment in reference to that Absolute
Reality whose reflection is so often
encountered in our conscience as a pressing
invitation to serve truth, justice and love.
At a personal level, you as public servants
know the importance of truth, integrity and
respect in your relationships with others.
Personal relationships are often the first
steps towards building trust and – in due
course – solid bonds of friendship between
individuals, peoples and nations. This is an
essential part of your role, both as
politicians and diplomats. In countries with
delicate political situations, such honest
and open personal relationships can be the
beginning of a much greater good for entire
societies and peoples. Let me encourage all
of you, present here today, to seize the
opportunities afforded you, both personally
and institutionally, to build these
relationships and, in so doing, to foster
the greater good of the concert of nations
and the true good of those whom you
represent.
The ancient Greek philosophers also teach us
that the common good is served precisely by
the influence of people endowed with clear
moral insight and courage. In this way,
policies become purified of selfish
interests or partisan pressures and are
placed on a more solid basis. Furthermore,
the legitimate aspirations of those whom we
represent are protected and fostered. Moral
rectitude and impartial respect for others
and their well-being are essential to the
good of any society since they establish a
climate of trust in which all human
interactions, whether religious, or
economic, social and cultural, or civil and
political, acquire strength and substance.
But what does it mean in practical terms to
respect and promote moral truth in the world
of politics and diplomacy on the national
and international levels? How can the
pursuit of truth bring greater harmony to
the troubled regions of the earth? I would
suggest that it can be done in three ways.
Firstly, promoting moral truth means acting
responsibly on the basis of factual
knowledge. As diplomats, you know from
experience that such knowledge helps you
identify injustices and grievances, so as to
consider dispassionately the concerns of all
involved in a given dispute. When parties
rise above their own particular view of
events, they acquire an objective and
comprehensive vision. Those who are called
to resolve such disputes are able to make
just decisions and promote genuine
reconciliation when they grasp and
acknowledge the full truth of a specific
question.
A second way of promoting moral truth
consists in deconstructing political
ideologies which would supplant the truth.
The tragic experiences of the twentieth
century have laid bare the inhumanity which
follows from the suppression of truth and
human dignity. In our own day, we are
witnessing attempts to promote supposed
values under the guise of peace, development
and human rights. In this sense, speaking to
the United Nations General Assembly, I
called attention to attempts in some
quarters to reinterpret the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights by giving
satisfaction to particular interests which
would compromise the Declaration’s inner
unity and move away from its original intent
(cf. Address to the United Nations General
Assembly, 18 April 2008).
Thirdly, promoting moral truth in public
life calls for a constant effort to base
positive law upon the ethical principles of
natural law. An appeal to the latter was
once considered self-evident, but the tide
of positivism in contemporary legal theory
requires the restatement of this important
axiom. Individuals, communities and states,
without guidance from objectively moral
truths, would become selfish and
unscrupulous and the world a more dangerous
place to live. On the other hand, by being
respectful of the rights of persons and
peoples we protect and promote human
dignity. When the policies we support are
enacted in harmony with the natural law
proper to our common humanity, then our
actions become more sound and conducive to
an environment of understanding, justice and
peace.
Mr President, distinguished friends, with
these considerations I reaffirm my esteem
and that of the Church for your important
service to society and to the building of a
secure future for our world. I invoke upon
all of you the divine blessings of wisdom,
strength and perseverance in the fulfillment
of your duties. Thank you.
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