Pope Francis to write message on nonviolence

August 26, 2016

“Nonviolence: a style of politics for peace” is the theme of the 50th World Day of Peace, which will be celebrated on January 1.

“Such a political method is based on the primacy of law,” the Holy See Press Office said in an August 26 statement announcing the theme. “If the rights and the equal dignity of every person are safeguarded without any discrimination and distinction, then non-violence, understood as a political method, can constitute a realistic way to overcome arm[ed] conflicts. In this perspective, it becomes important to increasingly recognize not the right of force but the force of right.”

“At the same time, however, it does not mean that one nation can remain indifferent to the tragedies of another,” the press office added. “Rather it means a recognition of the primacy of diplomacy over the noise of arms.”

The 2017 World Day of Peace will be the fourth of Pope Francis’s pontificate. The theme in 2014 was “fraternity, the foundation and pathway to peace”; the 2015 theme was “no longer slaves, but brothers and sisters”; and the 2016 theme was “overcome indifference and win peace.”

 

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Further information:

• Tema della 50ª Giornata Mondiale della Pace (1° gennaio 2017) (Holy See Press Office)