Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Buenos Aires (Agenzia Fides) - “We need to convert to the truth in order to live in justice, have correct reasoning, do what is just and have peace.” This is what Archbishop Hector Aguer of La Plata said in his address on October 17, in the television program “Keys to a Better World.” “The question of peace is deeper than we think, because it is not merely the absence of war, conflict, or violence,” the Prelate said, adding that “in Argentina's society today, it is evident that there is not a truly established peace.” There are many tensions, violence still present, the signs of exasperation that show the “lack of an authentic peace,” that cannot come if it is not through “full justice.” “The traditional formula of justice is: to each his own. If each one cannot be what he is and is not acknowledged as such, and their rights are not protected, they do not feel treated with justice and thus, will try to claim what corresponds to them.” It is when these relationships of injustice multiply, that a peaceful climate begins to disappear.
The fundamental challenge is to understand “how social justice is ensured”; a task that involves “above all those who lead politics in society, however it also involves all citizens.” The Archbishop of La Plata says “the question of justice, of giving to each his due...has to do with an acknowledgment of the truth,” which represents “the reality, the nature of things.” Argentina today, however, is seeing a disguising of the truth: “We do not want to recognize the truth, we live in a sort of pretend world,” “reality is left in parenthesis,” Archbishop Aguer commented. Thus, there is a need to return to the awareness that “man is made for truth, for justice, that he is not enough on his own; he needs love, solidarity, charity, social justice.” Only in this manner “will we begin experiencing peace,” the Archbishop concluded. (GT) (Agenzia Fides 20/10/2009)
