Fraternity, the Foundation and Pathway to Peace: this is the theme Pope Francis has chosen for the 47th World Day of Peace, which will be celebrated on 1 January. As opposed to a “throwaway culture” and the “globalization of indifference,” the Pope proposes fraternity–a fraternity that is not “sterile assistance”–as the way to give the world a more human face.
“If we return to seeing others as our brothers and sisters, not antagonists or enemies,” he urges, “we will succeed in building true peace for humanity.” “Fraternity,” says the Vatican press release, “is a dowry that every man and every woman brings with himself or herself as a human being, as a child of the one Father.
In the face of the many tragedies that afflict the family of nations–poverty, hunger, underdevelopment, conflicts, migrations, pollution, inequalities, injustice, organized crime, fundamentalisms–fraternity is the foundation and pathway to peace.”