VATICAN: Pope Francis Appeals for Justice to Humanity in Peril on World Day of Peace
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
As the Catholic Church marked the annual celebration of World Day of Peace on Wednesday, January 01, 2025, to encourage the people of God to reflect on the significance of peace to humanity in society, Pope Francis has appealed for justice to reign.
In his message for the 58th World Day of Peace themed: ‘Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace,’ the Pontiff reflected on “those who feel downtrodden, burdened by their past mistakes, oppressed by the judgment of others and incapable of perceiving even a glimmer of hope for their own lives.”
The Holy Father connects the World Day of Peace to the jubilee year which the Catholic Church marks this year noting that jubilee is an event that fills hearts with hope hence a year to emulate the Jewish practice and proclaim forgiveness and freedom for all people (Lev 25:10).
According to the Holy Father, jubilee was meant to “restore God’s justice in every aspect of life: in the use of the land, in the possession of goods and in relationships with others, above all the poor and the dispossessed.”
“At the beginning of this year, we desire to heed the plea of suffering humankind in order to feel called, together and as individuals, to break the bonds of injustice and to proclaim God’s justice,” Pope Francis expressed in his message and explained, “Sporadic acts of philanthropy are not enough. Cultural and structural changes are necessary, so that enduring change may come about.”
He notes that the goods of the earth are meant not for a privileged few in society, but for everyone and stresses a cultural change to forgive others as we are all “in debt” to God, who forgives our sins and calls upon us to forgive those who trespass against us.
“The cultural and structural change needed to surmount this crisis will come about when we finally recognize that we are all sons and daughters of the one Father, that we are all in his debt but also that we need one another, in a spirit of shared and diversified responsibility,” the Pope highlighted adding that “We will be able to “rediscover once and for all that we need one another” and are indebted one to another.”
The Pope noted that “If we take to heart the much-needed changes, the Jubilee Year of Grace can serve to set each of us on a renewed journey of hope, born of the experience of God’s unlimited mercy.”
