Review article
Theology of peace and culture of dialogue in popes’ messages for the world day of peace
Niko Ikić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5634-0387
; Katolički bogoslovni fakultet, Univerzitet u Sarajevu
Abstract
Papal messages of peace have already had a half-century tradition. Everybody speaks of threat to peace among people and nations, their external and spiritual causes; everybody proposes some solutions, calls for respecting the basic human rights, for a non-violent way of solving all the conflicts, for just human relationships, and the like. Unlike many similar world messages and calls, conventions and agreements, the specifics of papal messages lie in their theological-anthropological approach. Using the example of 23 of the 51 papal messages from the year 1996, the author investigates the transcendental and anthropological grammar of peace and culture of dialogue that popes tirelessly point out in their messages of peace, but the world constantly avoids them. Papal messages indicate that transcendental peace is the foundation and starting point for anthropological peace. Peace is, as a real possibility, God’s gift to man. The global market brings a man more restlessness than peace, and that is why man is called to constantly strive for peace. God is the transcendent source of peace and man is the anthropological heart of peace. To build a genuine tree of peace in the world, it is necessary to change the image of man and the image of God. Popes constantly keep warning that peace as the common good of mankind cannot be achieved only through positive laws and all sorts of conventions. Therefore, they conclude that moral and theological aspects need to pervade and impregnate legal norms and forms, love must permeate truth and justice and justice in righteousness should be related to love. Thus, they build a bridge between the transcendent and anthropological level, between peace and human rights, between human rights and justice, between justice and forgiveness, between forgiveness and reconciliation, between reconciliation and peace. The path of dialogue, through forgiveness and reconciliation, is the path to true peace based on truth, justice, love and freedom. Thus, the culture of war and violence needs to be replaced by a culture of peace, which should be achieved through a culture of dialogue and through a dialogue between cultures and religions.
Keywords
peace; culture of peace; dialogue; world day of peace; messages of peace
Hrčak ID:
213430
URI
Publication date:
19.12.2018.
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