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GEORGIA BULLETIN
THURSDAY, APRIL 11. 1963
New Techniques For World Community
~ aiiiAca iu
latest papal encyclical, "Pacem et Terris** (Peace on Ean
in an unusual ceremony that emphasized the importance
attached to his first encyclical devoted exclusively to
theme of peace.
clearly show that the men of
our time have become increas
ingly conscious of their dig
nity as human persons. This
awareness prompts them to
claim a share in the public ad
ministration of their country,
while it also accounts for the
demand that their own inalien
able and inviolable rights be
protected by law. It also re
quires that government offi
cials be chosen in conformity
with constitutional procedures,
and perform their specific func
tions within the limits of law
Our predecessors have con
stantly maintained, and we join
them in reasserting, that politi
cal communities are reciprocal
ly subjects of rights and duties.
This mean* that their relation
ships also must be harmonized
in truth, in justice, in a working
solidarity, in liberty. The same
I moral law which governs rela
tions between individual human
beings serves also to regulate
the relations of political com
munities with one another. This
will be readily understood when
one reflects that the individual
representatives of political com
munities cannot put aside their
personal dignity while they are
acting in the name and Interest
of their countries. And that-
they cannot therefore violate
the very law of their being,
which is the moral law.
It would be absurd, moreover,
even to imagine that men could
surrender their own human at
tributes, or be compelled to do
so, by the very fact of their
appointment to public office,
whereas they have been given
that noble assignment precisely
because the wealth of their hu
man endowments has earned
them their reputation as out
standing members of the body
politic. Furthermore, authority
is a necessary requirement of
the moral order in human so
ciety. It may not therefore be
used against that order. And
the very instant such an at
tempt were made, it would
cease to be authority, as the
Lord has warned us:
A word, then, for the kings’
cars to hear, kings’ hearts to
heed: A message for you, rulers,
wherever you be! Listen well,
all you that have multitudes at
your command, foreign hordes
to do your bidding. Power is
none but comes to you from the
Lord, nor any royalty but from
one who la above all. He It is
that will call you to account
for your doings with a scrutiny
that reads your inmost
thoughts.” (53)
Lastly, it is to be borne in
mind that also in the regulating
of relations between political
communities, authority is to be
exercised for the achievement
of the common good, which con
stitutes the reason for its ex
istence.
But a fundamental factor of
the common good la acknowl
edgement of the moral order
and respect for Its prescriptions.
Order between the political
communities must be built upon
the unshakable and unchange
able rock of the moral law,
made manifest in the order of
nature by the Creator himself
and by Him engraved on the
hearts of men with letters that
may never be effaced. Like the
rays of a gleaming beacon, its
principles must guide the plans
and policies of men and nations.
These are the signals—of warn
ing, safety and smooth sailing
—they will have to heed if they
would not see all their laborious
efforts to establish a new order
condemned to tempest and
shipwreck. (54)
In Truth
First among the rules gov*
erning the relations between
states Is that of truth. This
calls, above all, for the elimina
tion of every trace of racism,
and the consequent recognition
of the principle that all states
are by nature equal in dignity.
Each of them, accordingly is
vested with the right to exist
ence, to self-development, to the
m«ns fitting to its attainment
and to be the one primarily re
sponsible for this self-develop
ment Add to that the right of
each to its good name, and to
the respect which is its due.
Very often, experience has
taught us, individuals will be
found to differ considerably, in
knowledge, virtue, talent and
wealth. Yet these inequalities
must never be held to excuse
any man’s attempt to lord it
over his neighbors unjustly.
They constitute rather a source
of greater responsibility in the
contribution which each and
everyone must make towards
mutual improvement
Similarly, political communi
ties may have reached different
levels of culture, civilization or
economic development. Neither
is that a sufficient reason for
some to take unjust advantage
of their superiority over others.
Rather should they see in it an
added motive for more serious
commitment to the common
cause of social progress.
It is not true that some hu
man beings are by nature su
perior and others inferior. All
men are equal in their natural
dignity. Consequently, there are
no political communities which
are superior by nature and none
which are inferior by nature.
»A11 political communities are of
equal natural dignity, since
they are bodies whose member
ship is made up of these same
human beings. Nor must it be
forgotten, in this connection,
that peoples can be highly sen
sitive, and with good reason, in
matters touching their dignity
and honor.
Truth further demands that
the various media of social com
munications made available by
modem progress, which enable
the nations to know each other
better, be used with serene ob
jectivity. That need not. of
course, rule out anv legitimate
emphasis on the positive as
pects of their way of life. But
methods of information which
fall short of the truth, and by
the same token Impair the rep
utation of this people or that,
must be discarded. (55*
In Justice
Relations between political
communities are to be further
regulated by justice. This im
plies, over and above recogni
tion of their mutual rights, the
fulfillment of their respective
duties.
Political communities have
the right to existence, to self
development and to the means
necessary for this. They have
the right to play the leading
part in the process of their own
development and the right to
their good name and due hon
ors. From which it follows as a
simultaneous consequence *.hat
they have also the correspond
ing duty of respecting these
rights in others and of avoiding
any act of violation. Just as an
individual man may not pursue
his own interests to the detri
ment of other men, so, on the
international level, one state
may not develop itself oy re
stricting or oppressing other
states. St. Augustine rightly
says, “What are kingdoms with
out justice but bands of rob
bers?” (56)
Not only can it happen, but
it actually does happen that the
advantages and conveniences
which nations strive to acquire
for themselves become objects
of contention. Nevertheless, the
resulting disagreements must
be settled, not by force, nor by
deceit or trickery, but rather
in the only manner which is
worthy of the dignity of man
i.e., by a mutual assessment of
the reasons on both sides of the
dispute, by a mature and Jbjec-
tive investigation of the situa
tion, and by an equitable recon
ciliation erf differences of opin
ion.
From the 19th century there
has been a rather widespread
tendency in historical evolution
that political communities
equate themselves to national
communities. However, for vai-
ious reasons, it has not always
been possible to make geo
graphical boundaries coincide
with ethnic ones. This gives rise
to the phenomenon of minori
ties and to the relative complex
problems.
In the first place, it must be
made dear that justice is seri
ously violated by whatever is
done to limit the strength and
numerical increase of these
lesser peoples. The injustice is
even more serious if such sinful
projects are aimed at the **ery
extinction of these groups.
On the other hand, the de
mands of justice are admirably
observed by those civil authori
ties who promote the natural
betterment of those citizens be
longing to a smaller ethnic
group, particularly when that
betterment concerns their lan
guage. the development oi their
natural gifts, their ancestral
customs, and their acc »mplish-
ments and endeavors in ihe
economic order. (57)
It should be noted, however,
that these minority groups,
either because of a reaction to
their present situation or be
cause of their histoncal diffi
culties are often inclined to ex
alt beyond due measure any
thing proper to thevr own
people, so as to place them even
above human values, as if that
which is proper to humanity
were to be at the service of that
which is proper to the nation.
Reason rather demands that
these very people reu>gnize
also the advantages that accrue
to them from their peclliar cir
cumstances. For instance, no
small contribution is mute to
wards the development of their
particular talents and spirit by
their daily dealings with people
wuo have grown up in a differ
ent culture. This, however, will
be true only if they will know
how to act as a bridge, which
facJitates the circulation of
life in its various expressions
among ditterent traditions or
civilizations, and not a zone of
discord which can cause great
damage and choke natural de
velopment.
Active Solidarity
Certainly relations between
states must be regulated by the
norms of truth and justice, but
they also derive great benefits
from active solidarity, through
mutual cooperation on various
levels, such as, in our own times,
has already taken place with
laudable results in the economic,
social, political, educational,
health and sport spheres. We
must remember that, of its very
nature, civil authority exists,
not to confine its people within
the boundaries cf their nation,
but rather to protect, above all
else, the common good of that
particular civil society, which
certainly cannot be divorced
from the common good of the
entire human family.
This entails not only that civ
il societies should pursue their
particular interests without
hurting others, but also that
they should join forces and
plans whenever the efforts of
an individual government can
not achieve its desired goals.
But in the execution of such
common efforts, great care must
be taken lest what helps some
nations should injure others.
Furthermore, the universal
common good requires that in
every nation friendly relations
be fostered in all fields between
the citizens and their interme
diate societies.
There are groupings of peo
ple of more or less different
racial backgrounds. However,
the elements which character
ize an ethnic group must not be
transformed into a watertight
compartment in which human
beings are prevented from com
municating with their fellow-
men belonging to different eth
nic groups. That would contrast
with our contemporary situa
tion. in which the distances
separating peoples have been al
most wiped out. Nor can one
overlook the fact that, even
though human beings differ
from one another by virtue of
their ethnic peculiarities, they
all possess certain essential
common elements, and are in
clined by nature to meet each
other in the world of spiritual
values, whose progressive as
similation opens to them the
possibility of perfection without
limits They have the right and
duty therefore to live in com
munion with one another.
Proper Balances Between
Population, Land and Capital
As everybody knows, there
are countries with an abundance
of arable land and a scarcity of
manpower, while in other coun
tries there is no proportion be
tween natural resources and the
capital available. This demands
that peoples should set up re
lationships of mutual collabora
tion, facilitating the circulation
from one to the other of capi
tal. goods and manpower. (58)
Here we deem it opportune to
remark that, whenever possible,
the work to be done should be
taken to the workers, not vice
versa.
In this way a possibility of
a better future is offered to
many persons without being
forced to leave their own en
vironment in order to seek resi
dence elsewhere, which almost
always entails the heartache of
separation and difficult periods
of adjustment and social inte
gration.
The sentiment of universal
fatherhood which the Lord has
placed in our heart makes us
feel profound sadness in con
sidering the phenomenon of po
litical refugees: a phenomenon
which has assumed large pro
portions and which always hides
numberless and acute suffer
ings.
Such expatriations show that
there are some political regimes
which do not guarantee for in
dividual citizens a sufficient
sphere of freedom within which
their souls are allowed to
breathe humanly. In fact, under
those regimes even the lawful
existence of such a sphere of
freedom is either called into
question or denied. This un
doubtedly is a radical inversion
of the order of human society,
because the reason for the exist
ence of public authority is to
promote the common good, a
fundamental clement of which
is the recognition of that sphere
of freedom and the safeguard
ing of it.
At this point it will not be
superfluous to recall that such
exiles are persons, and that all
their rights as persons must be
recognized, since they do not
lose those rights on losing the
citizenship of lands of which
they are former members.
Now among the rights of a
human person there must be
included that by which a man
may enter a political communi
ty where he hopes he can more
fittingly provide a future for
himself and his dependents.
Wherefore, as far as the com
mon good rightly understood
permits, it is the duty of that
state to accept such immigrants
and to help to integrate them
into itself as new members.
Wherefore, on this occasion,
we publicly approve and com
mend every undertaking, found
ed on the principles of human
solidarity and Christian chari
ty. which aims at making mi
gration of persons from on*
country to another less palnfub
signal ror tne attention and
gratitude of all right-minded
persons the manifold word
which specialized international
agencies are carrying out in
this very delicate field.
On the other hand, it is with
deep sorrow that w* note the
enormous stocks of armaments
that have been and still are be
ing made in more economically
developed countries, with a vast
outlay of intellectual and eco
nomic resources. And so it hap
pens that, while the people of
these countries are loaded with
heavy burdens, other countries
as a result are deprived of the
collaboration they need in order
to make economic and social
progress.
The production of arms is
allegedly justified on the
grounds that in present-day
conditions peace cannot be pre
served without an equal balance
of armaments. And so, if one