VATICAN - "The Human Family: Community of Peace" is the theme of the 41st World Day for Peace on 1 January 2008

Tuesday, 19 June 2007

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "The Human Family: Community of Peace" is the theme chosen by Pope Benedict XVI for the annual Day for Peace on 1 January next year. The choice stems from the conviction that the perception of a common destiny and the experience of communion are essential factors for the realisation of the common good and of peace for humanity. The Second Vatican Council affirmed «One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race to live over the face of the earth» (Nostra aetate, 1, 2) and «Every social group must take account of the needs and legitimate aspirations of other groups, and even of the general welfare of the entire human family» (Gaudium et spes, 26).
If the dignity of the human person created in the image and likeness of God is revealed already in the Old Testament, the unity of the human race is one of the most original truths of Christianity. The theme "The Human Family: Community of Peace " continues the reflection proposed by Pope Benedict XVI in his two previous messages for World Peace Day 2006 "In Truth, Peace " and 2007 "The Human Person, the Heart of Peace". It is providential to recognised the unity of the human family at this time in history, marked by a crisis in international organisations and the presence of serious concerns in the international community. Every individual person and every nation is called to live as a member of the human family designed by God to be a community of peace! (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 19/6/2007; righe 18; parole 268)


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