Friday, March 23, 2007

Paul IV, from Intro

"The awareness of a universal brotherhood is developing in our world, at least in principle. Whoever works to educate the rising generations in the conviction that every man is our brother is building from the foundation the edifice of peace. Whoever implants in public opinion the sentiment of human brotherhood, without any limits, is preparing better days for the world. Whoever conceives of the protection of political interests as a logical and organic necessity of social life, without the incitement of hate and combat among men, is opening to human society the ever effective advancement of the common good. Whoever helps in discovering in every man— beyond his physical, ethical, ethnic and racial characteristics—the existence of a being equal to his own, is transforming the earth from an epicenter of division, antagonism, treachery and revenge into a field of vital work for civil collaboration. For where brotherhood among men is at root disregarded, peace is at root destroyed. And yet peace is the mirror of real, authentic, modern humanity, victorious over every anachronistic self-injury. Peace is the great concept extolling love among men, who discover that they are brothers and decide to live as such."

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