The Papal message for the World Day of Peace is particularly important. It is delivered to foreign ministries of all over the world, and from it Benedict XVI draws for the traditional speech he delivers at the beginning of every year to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See. This year’s message perfectly tracks the themes of the recent Synod for the New Evangelization. In the message, the Pope maintains that a renewal of the proclamation of Christ is the first and fundamental factor of peace; and affirms that a new commitment and a new ethic can come about, above all, from the encounter of people with God. And because of that encounter, the hierarchy of criteria that govern the world today can be turned upside down. Because of that encounter, there power and profit no longer prevail over everything else, and aims and means are corrected. Only in Christ can peacemakers face the challenges which awaits them.

Themes of the Message for the World Day of Peace.

All the themes the Message for the World Day of Peace deal with are based on two main premises: that «Peace is not a dream or something utopian; it is possible»; and that peace can happen only in the relationship with God, in comprehending why there is a fraternity among men, committing us to the pursuit of the common good. There is no peace if relativism rules. There can only be peace with communion. Communion leads to overcoming inequalities, and guides the agenda for integral human development. «Peace – it is written in the message -is principally the attainment of the common good in society at its different levels, primary and intermediary, national, international and global. Precisely for this reason it can be said that the paths which lead to the attainment of the common good are also the paths that must be followed in the pursuit of peace. »

World Hunger

Much has been said about the financial crisis, and very little about the food crisis. Yet, data released by the FAO recently is revealing: there are 870 million people suffering from hunger in the world, especially in Africa and in the Middle East. So, «the issue of food security – the Pope maintains – is once more central to the international political agenda, as a result of interrelated crises, including sudden shifts in the price of basic foodstuffs, irresponsible behaviour by some economic actors and insufficient controls on the part of governments and the international community.»

The Pope’s appeal is supported by data. This data is not in the message, but is – one could say – the architecture on which the Papal appeal is based. This data shows that several basic foodstuff prices are dangerously close to 2008 levels, when turmoil over bread prices exploded in about 30 countries. Yet if prices oscillate so often that it is really difficult to plan for investments in agriculture – UNCTAD, a United Nations agency, advises – it is because of finance. In fact, the exchange of finance derivatives of basic foodstuff is 20-30 times bigger than investment in the real market. Investments in agricultural lands in developing countries – OXFAM data shows – increased by 200 per cent in 2008. Sixty percent of land purchases took place in countries where there is hunger. These hectares, which could feed a billion people, were used to cultivate and produce biofuels.

How can we confront the food crisis? «Work together in a spirit of solidarity, from the local to the international level, with the aim of enabling farmers, especially in small rural holdings, to carry out their activity in a dignified and sustainable way from the social, environmental and economic points of view.»

Economic/financial crisis

It is a subsidiarity principle, which should be applied in facing the economic crisis. «The ideologies of radical liberalism and technocracy  – the message states – reflect the conviction that economic growth should be pursued even to the detriment of the state’s social responsibilities and civil society’s networks of solidarity, social rights and duties.» Among social rights and duties «most under threat today» is the right to work. Several times during his pontificate the Pope spoke about the right to work, even expressing his solidarity toward those who did not have an employment to sustain themselves. Without work there is no opportunity to build the future, nor a family. But the Papal denunciation perhaps looks further, to China – where social rights seem to be a utopia – and to a Europe in an economic and identity crisis, where social rights are diminished with the excuse of the lack of resources. «The reason for this – the Pope writes – is that labour and the rightful recognition of workers’ juridical status are increasingly undervalued, since economic development is thought to depend principally on completely free markets.» The goal of access to steady employment for everyone must be achieved, as stated in Benedict XVI’s social encyclical Caritas in Veritate. In the mean time, there is a need of «a fresh outlook on work, based on ethical principles and spiritual values that reinforce the notion of work as a fundamental good for the individual, for the family and for society. Corresponding to this good are a duty and a right that demand courageous new policies of universal employment».

A new social evangelization

In the end, the message is about a new social evangelization. The premise is that «true peacemakers are those who love, defend and promote human life in all its dimensions: personal, communitarian and transcendent.» To support the liberalization of abortion means to insufficiently value human life, and those who support it «do not realize that in this way they are proposing the pursuit of a false peace. The flight from responsibility, which degrades human persons, and even more so the killing of a defenceless and innocent being, will never be able to produce happiness or peace.» Ultimately, peace, integral human development, and even the safeguarding of nature, cannot be achieved «without defending the life of those who are the weakest, beginning with the unborn.» Because «every offence against life, especially at its beginning, inevitably causes irreparable damage to development, peace and the environment.»

Protection of human life

The Pope aims even higher. He says that «neither is it just to introduce surreptitiously into legislation false rights or freedoms which, on the basis of a reductive and relativistic view of human beings and the clever use of ambiguous expressions aimed at promoting a supposed right to abortion and euthanasia, pose a threat to the fundamental right to life». The Pope is also referring to the UN resolution «Preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights», adopted on September 21, 2012 by the UN Council for Human Rights, which would surreptitiously open the door to a «right to abortion».

It is a whole UN vocabulary that should be changed, as noted by Silvano Maria Tomasi, the Holy See permanent observer at the UN Council for Human Rights in Geneva. This change of vocabulary – a vocabulary which roughly dates back to the sexual revolution – lead to the disappearance of the word «abortion» in international documents, substituted by the more neutral right to reproductive health; but it also lead to the disappearance of the word «family» from the United Nations vocabulary. The semantic borders are so ambiguous that there is a risk to mistake religious freedom with freedom of worship or expression.

Promote religious freedom

So – the Pope writes – «at this stage in history, it is becoming increasingly important to promote this right not only from the negative point of view, as freedom from – for example, obligations or limitations involving the freedom to choose one’s religion – but also from the positive point of view, in its various expressions, as freedom for – for example, bearing witness to one’s religion, making its teachings known, engaging in activities in the educational, benevolent and charitable fields which permit the practice of religious precepts, and existing and acting as social bodies structured in accordance with the proper doctrinal principles and institutional ends of each.»

A pedagogy for peacemakers

How to teach a culture of peace? The basic cell is the family, which has «a natural vocation to promote life» because «it accompanies individuals as they mature and it encourages mutual growth and enrichment through caring and sharing». Then, the Pope asks «cultural institutions, schools and universities for a notable contribution not only to the formation of new generations of leaders, but also to the renewal of public institutions, both national and international. They can also contribute to a scientific reflection which will ground economic and financial activities on a solid anthropological and ethical basis. Today’s world, especially the world of politics, needs to be sustained by fresh thinking and a new cultural synthesis so as to overcome purely technical approaches and to harmonize the various political currents with a view to the common good.»

There is the need of a «pedagogy for peacemakers», comprised also of a rich interior life, clear and valid moral points of reference, and appropriate attitudes and lifestyles. In fact, «acts of peacemaking converge for the achievement of the common good; they create interest in peace and cultivate peace. Thoughts, words and gestures of peace create a mentality and a culture of peace, and a respectful, honest and cordial atmosphere». It  is «a slow process», for «there is a need to renounce that false peace promised by the idols of this world along with the dangers which accompany it, that false peace which dulls consciences, which leads to self-absorption, to a withered existence lived in indifference». A pedagogy of peace, instead, «implies activity, compassion, solidarity, courage and perseverance». Ultimately, it is about the realization of the Beatitudes. And the Beatitudes – Benedict XVI reminds us in the very beginning of the message – are promises, not merely moral exhortations.

Despiting the various analysis (that always deal with numbers and “geography” of the next conclave), there is another way to understand what the next consistory will be meaning. And this way is particularly indicative of what is the approach that Benedict XVI aims the Church to take.

Rumors about a new consistory had been circulating for long time. The last 5th of December, during a confidential meeting with some journalists, msgr. Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, cracked a joke when he had to leave the meeting before of its conclusion. «I am awaited – he said – in the Apostolic Palace. It is not because of my next creation as a cardinal». The consistory question had already come into play, and lists of the possible new cardinals had already begum to circulate.  Some of the most accredited insiders reported that there was a sort of bailouts for a red hat: or Fisichella made the cut, or msgr. Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.

It is during those days that someone secretly made pressures to move Coccopalmerio from the presidency of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts to the Apostolic Penitentiary. The head of Apostolic Penitentiary must be a cardinal, and so the promoted appointment could appear as a promotion. It was – on the contrary – a case of promoveatur ut amoveatur: Coccopalmerio’s move would have broken a post – the one as president of Pontifical Council for Legislative Text – that is considered a key-post for Curia’s balances.

At the beginning of December, there had been other important events to remark. It is the 60th anniversary of the International Organization of Migration, and Holy See marked the anniversary its way, becoming a a full member of the organization, and not just as a permanent observator (this status the Holy See keeps on at United Nations, Unesco, Fao, European Parliament). The I.O.M. was established in 1951, and bases its activities on the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits both migrants and society. It has 130 member States, and around 100 observers. In his address for the application by the Holy See for membership of the I.O.M.,  msgr. Silvano Tomasi – Holy See Permanent Observer at the U.N. office in Geneva – noticed that «the experience of Catholic agencies and association in Geneva and on the ground worldwide, for example the International Catholic Migration Commission and the many national Caritas organizations, is well established and extensive». And he concluded: «The participation of the Holy See as a Member of the I.O.M. is a commitment to collaboration and support in the common search of solutions and assistance to people caught up in this mayor phenomenon of our globalized world».

By becoming a full member of the I.O.M., Holy See increased its diplomatic impact. The decisions is a message sent to the ones who try to undermine Holy See diplomacy from the inside. Rumors from diplomatic environments said that there is the intention to let some lay take important charges in Vatican Diplomatic Corps. Pontifical Legates must be priests, because they represent the Pope. This rule is valid only for Papal nuncios. Papal nuncios are the Pope’s ambassador, but at the same time they work as bishops. They weigh up candidates for episcopate in the countries in which they are nuncios, they speak to Episcopal conferences, and  they also have relationships with governments. On the other hand, nuncios who are appointed as permanent observer  just have in charge to maintain relationships among Holy See and States. Appointing lay people as permanent observers would not be out of Canon Law.

It is a subtle attack, moved from the inside, and it is also made through the requests made by advisors of European Union to enroll the Holy See in the «White List», the list of states most active in preventing and fighting the financial crimes.

On December 16th, the message for the World Day of Peace is presented in the Holy See Press Office. An insider of the Vatican Secretary of State defined the text a «more or less a high school homework». It is certain that the message does not follow the sketch outlined from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and this is fairly understood during the press conference: card. Peter Turkson and mons. Mario Toso – number one and two of the Pontifical Council for Justice and peace – reveal the guidelines of international law and social doctrine of the Church that are just to be foreseen in the official text. It is the last part of a strain between the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Vatican Secretary of State – the climax of this strain was when the Pontifical Council published the document titled «Towards reforming the international financial and monetary system in the context of global public authority».

During these days, the list of the to-be-created cardinals is definitely sketched out. The line is fair. Rino Fisichella will not be a cardinal, and the note of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith on the year of faith – released on January, 7th, but announced on January, 5th – is interpreted as a sort of diminishment of Fisichella, even if he has the important charge to manage the Synod for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, that will open the Year of Faith. On the other hand, Francesco Coccopalmerio is created cardinal. But there is not promoveatur ut amoveatur for him: he keeps his post at the Pontifical Council for the Legislative Texts.

Why Coccopalmerio made the cut? The roots cause can be seen in a speech held by Benedict XVI  in 2008. The Pope spoke to participants in the Study Congress organized by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law. He quoted Antonio Rosmini: «The human person is the essence of law». And he said: «The ius ecclesiae is not only a body of norms formulated by the Ecclesial Legislator for this special people who form the Church of Christ. It is, in the first place, the authoritative declaration on the part of the Ecclesial Legislator of the duties and rights that are based in the sacraments and are therefore born from the institution by Christ himself».

On one hand, Benedict XVI goes on with the «turning back to God» project, announced and proclaimed during the last trip in Germany, that is intended to be completed with the year of Faith. On the other hand, Benedict XVI feels the need to look back to the law, both canon and international law.

In fact, Benedict XVI – in the  letter to the Catholics of Ireland –  wrote that  «the program of renewal proposed by the Second Vatican Council was sometimes misinterpreted and indeed, in the light of the profound social changes that were taking place, it was far from easy to know how best to implement it. In particular, there was a well-intentioned but misguided tendency to avoid penal approaches to canonically irregular situations». It was 2010.

It is also in the direction of giving more importance to law that msgr. Antonio Maria Vegliò, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants, gained the berretta rossa. A highly experienced diplomat, Vegliò also got a doctorate in canon law. His appointment did not surprised as much, because it  fulfills Ratzinger’s requirements: since Holy See joined the International Organization of Migrants, a cardinal can increase the juridical impact of its diplomatic corp. The idea is to get back to the solidity of the international law, and at the same time to leave behind the fickleness of diplomacy.

And right before the announcement of the Consistory, during the Mass of the Epiphany, Benedict XVI made an important Episcopal ordination: the one of Charles J. Brown, a non-diplomat – he served until now in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – recently appointed as Papal nuncio to Ireland, to «fix» the difficult situation the Church of Ireland is living after the clergy abuse scandal. The appointment of Brown  is also a response to the choice of Irish government to close its embassy to the Holy See and to continue relations through an ambassador based in Dublin. Such a «calm and collected» response to Ireland – Thomas P. Melady, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See during the administration of George H. W. Bush, said to Catholic News Service – thus reflects not only pastoral concern but also the «maturity of Vatican diplomacy».

This maturity, Benedict XVI aims to enforce. The list of the to-be-created cardinals increases the impact of Italian cardinals, and of Western Church in General, in the College of Cardinals. But, at the same time, the choices of Benedict XVI let understand what is his position: the Church needs to find its identity again, and its identity is also made of the ius ecclesiae. Turning back to law, to turn back to God: this is Benedict XVI project.