Meeting with the Diplomatic Corps (13 May 1982)

On Thursday, 13 May 1982, the Holy Father met with the Diplomatic Corps in Lisbon. In his speech*, the Pope said “Portugal has a history rooted in an ancient civilization, which spread throughout the area of ​​Latin countries and therefore imbued with Christian values. But it has equally opened up to the more distant and more diverse horizons of the other continents.”

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.

1. I came to dear Portugal first of all to make a pilgrimage to our Lady of Fatima, and at the same time for a pastoral visit to the children of this country who almost unanimously profess the Catholic faith, and for a meeting with their rulers who they too had the kindness to invite me and welcome me cordially.

I wanted to stop at least in some big cities and establish a dialogue with the different environments. But it was also my desire to reserve a moment for foreign diplomats accredited by their Governments to Portugal, being keenly aware of the importance of your mission for peace, security and fraternal relations between peoples.

I am happy to greet, through you, each of the countries you represent; I have already had the joy of visiting a certain number of them, thanks to the kind invitation of the civil authorities and local episcopates, and I cherish the memory of the friendly welcome of your compatriots. On the other hand, many of you have colleagues from your country who ensure a diplomatic presence at the Holy See. It has always been pleasant and useful for me to meet them and confide in them the concerns of the Catholic Church, especially regarding international peace. Allow me to talk about it with you too.

2. I observe first of all that you are on a mission in a country that offers your gaze and your heart very interesting aspects that are likely to enrich your experience. Portugal has a history rooted in an ancient civilization, which spread throughout the area of ​​Latin countries and therefore imbued with Christian values. But it has equally opened up to the more distant and more diverse horizons of the other continents. Thus the Portuguese nation has left its mark on vast regions of South America, Africa and even Asia. Even if Portugal now especially emphasizes its European inclusion, in ever closer union with the countries of this continent whose spiritual unity and economic life it shares, its widely spread culture and language remain a key to understand well the history and many of the current aspects of those great peoples who, beyond the seas, have now taken their destiny into their own hands. I am also thinking of the nearest countries which nowadays welcome many Portuguese migrant workers. I hope that the time of your mission in Lisbon will give you the opportunity to familiarize yourself not only with the political, social and economic realities of this country, but also with all the cultural riches expressed by this dynamic people. May your sympathy also extend to all those who have benefited from Portuguese culture in the world!

3. It is you who, on behalf of your governments, represent your respective homelands with their different interests before Portugal. The diplomatic path that is your field presupposes a profound spirit of observation and listening and the art of negotiating to promote understanding, agreement and collaboration through reasonable means. It is therefore their own countries that diplomats are called to serve, but also - and I hope this with all my heart - the good of all peoples, that is, conditions that guarantee security and progress for all. In fact, each country is responsible for its part, for the right reason that the elements that regulate international peaceful life are increasingly less dissociable. This fact presupposes a certain number of convictions which I have often spoken about before diplomatic corps or leaders of the international community and which I take the liberty of recalling before you today.

4. First of all, there is the normal access of peoples to political independence, which gives their representatives the possibility of freely managing the affairs of their country, in the interest and with the co-responsibility of all their compatriots. And this freedom should be authentic and there should be no interference from other nations through the loophole of ideologies foreign to the country. In fact, every political power has meaning and justification only in the search for the common good for all. It finds its limitation in the acceptance of international conventions and in respect of people's fundamental rights, which no one could violate and which are guaranteed by human conscience and, for believers, by the Author of conscience, the Creator of men.

Diplomacy deals more specifically with disputes that arise between peoples. They can actually degenerate into local conflicts, always reprehensible due to the loss of human lives, the senseless destruction and the feelings of enmity they generate, often lastingly, between nations. They could even lead to more extensive wars, with risks of annihilation that are difficult to calculate. These controversies generally have serious foundations, but they take on such breadth because they are often exacerbated by passions, passions that complicate situations and do not allow us to see reality objectively. And it is precisely there that the role of diplomacy is of capital importance, to face problems more serenely and find reasonable solutions, without neglecting justice and without damaging legitimate national pride.

On the other hand, it will be very difficult to maintain peace as long as the gap that separates rich peoples from those who often do not even have the minimum for survival grows. It is your point of honor and your duty as experts to be the first to grasp the importance of these issues at stake - I am thinking for example of North-South relations - and to contribute to making it understood around you.

5. The framework of this brief meeting does not allow us to prolong the presentation of many serious problems that arise in the field of justice, peace and development. But I would like to at least underline the difficult and painful situation of those who are uprooted from their country.

Portugal, for its part, had to and was able to welcome a very high number of Portuguese citizens who had left the overseas territories at the time of the latter's independence, and one can easily imagine the precarious situation of these people and the burden enormous that the fact represented for the country, which worked with great efforts to integrate them and offer them a new insertion into national life.

In many places in the world there is a more difficult, and I would say tragic, situation, namely that of men, women and children who no longer have a homeland. I want to talk about the refugees who, due to their political opinions, their religious feelings, their different ethnic groups or simply following the upheavals caused by wars or revolutions, are subjected to such fears and such pressures or difficulties in life, to such lack of freedom or even to such threats that they are practically forced into exile far from their homeland, sometimes having to flee at the risk of their lives, or remain forced into refugee camps, awaiting a possible adopted homeland, where, in any case , they will resume another type of life without any means. This is one of the terrible plagues from which our contemporary world suffers, as if men were no longer capable of reserving a livable place for their peers. It is a situation that must be dear to all those who have responsibilities in international affairs. As I did before the Diplomatic Corps gathered in Nairobi on 6 May 1980, and on other occasions, I repeat my appeal to the Authorities of each Nation to feel honored to allow all their fellow citizens to live at home in a just freedom without forcing them into exile, while I strongly encourage host countries and the international community to provide current refugees with a truly humane life.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is precisely to prepare increasingly human ways that you are called to work, according to a noble mission like yours. I pray to God that he will give you his light and his strength so that you can contribute to this as much as possible, and I ask him to bless your people, your families and your countries. To each and every one, I repeat my best wishes and thank you for wanting to participate in this meeting.

* Teachings V , 2 pp. 1629-1632.
 

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