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                               VIS-Press releases

FRATERNITY IS AS VITAL AS FREEDOM AND EQUALITY

VATICAN CITY, 16 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, the Holy Father
received the Letters of Credence of five new ambassadors to the Holy See:
Suresh Prasad Pradhan of Nepal; Royson Mabuku Mukwena of Zambia; Miquel Angel
Canturri Montanya of Andorra, Vivianne Fock Tave of Seychelles, and Boubacar
Sidiki Toure of Mali.

The Holy Father first addressed the diplomats as a group, then gave each of
them a speech in written form concerning issues specific to his or her own
country.

The Pope focused his collective remarks on the subject of human fraternity, in
which context he recalled appeals made over the course of the year "for Haiti,
devastated first by the earthquake and them by the cholera epidemic.
Unfortunately", he said, "other tragedies have taken place in a number of
nations this year. Your own counties, the international community and the
voluntary sector have responded to the urgent appeals for aid, aid which must
certainly continue and intensify. For her part the Church, through her various
institutions, also contributes in many ways over the course of time".

"The great ideal of fraternity, which is part of the national emblem of many
countries, has had less resonance in the development of philosophical and
political ideas than other ideals such as freedom, equality, progress or
unity", the Pope observed. "It is a principle which has become a
dead letter in
contemporary political societies, due above all to the influence of
individualist and collectivist ideologies. Yet fraternity has a special
significance for Christians, because of God's plan of fraternal love, the
fraternity revealed to us by Christ".

"In order to live with dignity all human beings need respect, just as they need
justice to be done and their rights to be recognised in concrete terms.
However, this is not enough to live a fully human life, for human beings also
need fraternity, ... not only in their immediate relationships but also on a
planetary scale. And, although the current process of globalisation brings
people closer together it does not make them brothers".

"Human reason", said Benedict XVI, "is capable of
recognising the equality of
all men and the need to limit excessive inequalities among them, yet it is
incapable of establishing fraternity. That is a supernatural gift. The Church
sees the achievement of human fraternity on earth as a vocation that is part of
the creative design of God, Who wishes her to create this fraternity at both
the local and universal level, as she does in the countries you represent
before the Holy See".

Yet, the Pope concluded, "although fraternity among men can raise positive
echoes in terms of 'social effectiveness', it must not be forgotten that it is
not a means but an end in itself. The Church believes that Christ revealed to
us that God is love. Thus people who believe in divine charity are certain that
the path of love is open to all men and women, and that efforts to establish
universal fraternity are not in vain".
CD/VIS 20101216 (510)

SUMMARY

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