MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE BENEDICT XVI
AT THE ANGELUS AT MIDDAY IN ST. PETER'S SQUARE
WORLD DAY OF PEACE

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

We have begun a new year and I wish that it will be for all peaceful and prosperous. I commend it to the heavenly protection of the Virgin, to whom the liturgy invokes today with the most important title, the Mother of God. With her "yes" to the angel, on the day of the Annunciation, the Virgin conceived in her womb through the Holy Spirit, the eternal Word, and she brought him forth on the night of the Nativity.

In Bethlehem, in the fullness of time, Jesus was born of Mary: The Son of God was made man for our salvation, and the Virgin truly became Mother of God. This immense gift that Mary received was not reserved only for her, but for us all. In her fruitful virginity, in fact, God gave "to men the benefits of eternal salvation ... because through her we received the author of life" (cf. collect prayer).

Mary, after having given mortal flesh to the only Son of God, became mother of believers and of all humankind.

It is in the name of Mary, Mother of God and of mankind, that for the past 40 years, on the first day of the year, the Church has celebrated the World Day for Peace. The theme that has been chosen this year is "The Human Family, a Community of Peace."

The same love that builds and maintains unity in the family, the vital building block of society, favors these relationships of solidarity and of collaboration among the peoples of the earth, who are members of the single human family.

The Second Vatican Council recalled this when it affirmed, "One is the community of all peoples, one their origin. ... One also is their final goal, God" ("Nostra Aetate," No. 1). There is a close relationship, therefore, among family, society and peace.

"Consequently, whoever, even unknowingly, circumvents the institution of the family," I wrote in the message for today's World Day of Peace, "undermines peace in the entire community, national and international, since he weakens what is in effect the primary agency of peace" (No. 5).

Also, "We do not live alongside one another purely by chance; all of us are progressing along a common path as men and women, and thus as brothers and sisters" (No. 6). It is truly important that each one of us assumes responsibility before God and recognizes in him the originating font of our own existence, and that of others.

May this awareness give rise to a commitment to make humankind an authentic community of peace, ruled by "a common law ... one which would foster true freedom rather than blind caprice, and protect the weak from oppression by the strong" (No. 11).

May Mary, Mother of the Prince of Peace, aid the Church in its untiring service for peace, and help the community of nations, that will celebrate in 2008 the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to begin on a path of authentic solidarity and of stable peace.

[After the Angelus, the Pope greeted the people in several languages. In Italian, he said:]

On the World Day of Peace there are innumerable initiatives promoted by ecclesial communities on all the continents. I express my appreciation to all the promoters of these events and to those who participate in them, encouraging them to be always and everywhere witnesses of peace and reconciliation. Greetings in particular to the organizers of the event titled "Peace in All Lands," organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, and in many other cities of the world.