The Evangelical Pope | Evil is Never the Path to Good

Ary Scheffer‘s 1854 painting The Temptation of Christ (Wikipedia)

Each week we let Saint Pope John Paul II share meaningful signposts to spark socio-economic resolves through justice and righteousness combined with mercy and compassion; in short, love.

               ¹⁴ For he is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,

               ¹⁵ by setting aside the law with its commands and regulations in his flesh. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,

  
               ¹⁶ and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

               __ Ephesians 2: 14-16 (New International Version)

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Ayacucho, Peru – 3 February 1985 | I did not want the Pope to miss a visit to Ayacucho during my apostolic trip to Peru. In it, I wish to approach the pain of the inhabitants of this area, give you a word of encouragement, and contribute to the desired reconciliation of spirits.

In these lands, as unfortunately also in others in this beloved country, the anguished cry of its people can be heard imploring peace. I know that there is much suffering because of the spiral of violence that has centered among you. I share from the depths of my heart the heartbreak you suffer. I hope that the pain that hurts your families ends soon and that, in the meantime, you know how to face it with an evangelical spirit. This does not mean discouragement but the courage to react with dignity, resorting to legitimate means of protection of society and not to violence that generates more violence.

I now want to address my urgent word to the men who have put their trust in the armed struggle, to those who have allowed themselves to be deceived by false ideologies into thinking that terror and aggressiveness, by exacerbating already regrettable social tensions and forcing a supreme confrontation, can lead to a better world.

To these, I want to say that evil is never the path to good! You cannot destroy the lives of your brothers; you cannot continue sowing panic among mothers, wives, and daughters. You can't continue bullying the elderly. Not only do you deviate from the path that God-Love shows with his life, but you also hinder the development of your people.

The ruthless logic of violence leads nowhere! No good is obtained by contributing to increasing it. If your goal is a more just and fraternal Peru, look for the paths of dialogue and not those of violence.

Remember what the Latin American bishops have taught repeatedly: that the “Church rejects terrorist and guerrilla violence, cruel and uncontrollable when it breaks out. In no way is crime justified as a path to liberation. Violence inexorably generates new forms of oppression and slavery, usually more serious than those from which it is intended to liberate. However, above all, it is an attack on life, which only depends on the Creator. . . We must also emphasize that when an ideology appeals to violence, it recognizes its insufficiency and weakness" (Puebla, 532).

For this reason, I beg you with pain in my heart and, simultaneously, with firmness and hope, to reflect on your paths. To you, young people, I say: Do not allow your eventual generosity and altruism to be exploited! Violence is not a means of construction. It offends God, those who suffer it, and those who practice it (Homily during the Holy Mass for the Religious Orders and Congregations at Loyola, n.6, November 6, 1982: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, V, 3 (1982) 1166). Once again, I repeat that Christianity recognizes the noble struggle for justice at all levels but invites us to promote it through understanding, dialogue, practical and generous work, coexistence, and excluding solutions through paths of hatred and death.

Therefore, I ask you to change your path in God's name! Convert to the cause of reconciliation and peace! You're still on time! Many tears of innocent victims await your response.

Yes, to all of you, united to Christ since your Calvary, I invite you to forgive those who have done evil to you "because they do not know what they do" (Luke 23: 34).

Excerpted from:

VIAJE APOSTÓLICO A VENEZUELA, ECUADOR, PERÚ, TRINIDAD Y TOBAGO

LLAMAMIENTO DEL SANTO PADRE JUAN PABLO II A LOS HOMBRES DE LA LUCHA ARMADA, Ayacucho (Perú), Domingo 3 de febrero de 1985

https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/es/speeches/1985/february/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19850203_lotta-armata.html