Aug 13, 2014 | Non categorizzato
War is large-scale murder, clothed in the appearance of some sort of sacred cult, like the sacrifices of the firstborn that were made by the worshippers of Baal, and that was due to the terror it instilled, the rhetoric that clothed it, and the interests that were at the root of it. When humanity will have progressed spiritually, war will be catalogued alongside bloody rites, superstitions, witchcraft and savagery. War is for humanity, what illness is to health, or sin to the soul. It is massacre and destruction, it invades both body and the soul, both individuals and collectivities. Einstein suggested that man has a need to hate and destroy and war would satisfy this need. But this is not the case: most people, entire populations, do not manifest such a need. However, they repress them. Then reason and religion condemn them. Saint Thomas says that all things lust after peace. In fact, they all lust after life. Only the insane and incurables are able to desire death. And war is death. It is never the desire of the people; it is willed by minorities for whom physical violence is used to ensure economic advantages or, also, to satisfy deteriorated passions. Especially now, with the cost, the victims and the ruins war seems like nothing more than a useless massacre. “Massacre” and, what is even worse, “useless”. A victory over life, which is turning into a suicide for humanity. By saying that war is a “useless massacre”, Benedict XV has offered the most precise definition so far. That “uselessness” was reiterated by Pius XII in 1951: “All have expressed their horror at war, with the same energetic clarity, as well as their belief that it is not – now more than ever – the way to resolve conflict and bring justice. That can only be the result of free and fair agreement. That it could be a question of popular wars – in the sense that such wars corresponded to the consent and the will of the people – that could never be the case if not in the face of an injustice so flagrant and destructive of the essential goods of a population as to turn round the conscience of an entire nation” (To the entire diplomatic corp, January 1, 1951. Our translation.) Just as the plague is good for plaguing, hunger is good for starving, war is good for killing – even worse – for destroying the means of life. It’s a funerary industry, a factory for producing ruins. Only a fool could hope to derive benefit from a massacre, health from suicide, energy from pneumonia. Evil begets evil, as a palm produces palm dates. And reality demonstrates, also in this field, the practical inconsistency of that Machiavellian aphorism according to which “the end justifies the means”. The end might be justice, liberty, honour and bread: but the means produce so much destruction of bread, honour, liberty and justice, aside from human life, including that of women and children, the elderly and innocents of every sort, that this tragically cancels out the end that was originally intended. In essence, war isn’t good for anything outside of destroying lives and wealth. From: Igino Giordani, L’inutilità della guerra, Città Nuova 2003, pp.9-16.
Aug 13, 2014 | Non categorizzato
“I had written a letter to Pope Francis at the start of his Pontificate […] Then I went to WYD in Rio de Janeiro with 350 young people from Korea: there the Pope invited the young people to go out into the world to serve their brothers and sisters. So I wrote another letter, to tell him how nice it would be to have him physically among us at the meeting for Asian youth. In April when I met him in Rome the Polpe told me that as he read my letter he heard a voice in his heart saying: we have to go to Korea.” These were the words of Bishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik during an interview with Vatican Insider. The bishop’s diocese of Daejeon will host the Asian Youth Day as well as the meeting of Pope Francis with the bishops of Asia. “The Holy Father’s visit to Korea is an extraordinary event for the Korean people that has raised great expectation also among non-ecclesial environments outside the Catholic Church,” say Alberto Kim and Maris Moon from the Focolare Movement in Korea. We also asked them to explain the Asian Youth Day (AYD), which is already underway (August 10-17) and whose highlight will be a meeting between the young people and the Pope. 
They write: “This week-long experience is meant to provide the young people with Catholic formation that can help them in planning their future spiritual lives. The meeting is also intended to provide opportunities to young Catholics to explore and deepen the faith so that they can share the Gospel with others including young people and other relgious groups.” The day has been titled “Asian youth, wake up! The glory of the Martyrs shines on you” presenting “the spirit and example of the martyrs to the young people of the current generation, which is living amidst many temptations and non-Christian values, so that they might gain the courage to live according to Gospel values.” The young people of the Focolare have been entrusted with preparing a two-hour prayer vigil for the conclusion of the second day of AYD. Alberto and Maris concluded by saying: “On August 16th we’ll be at the Kkottongnae Rehabilitation Centre for the meeting of the Holy Father with Korean Lay Leaders. Paolo Kwon from the Focolare and president of the Association of the Laity in Korea, will give the welcoming address on behalf of the Korean laity.” The Pope’s visit will focus attention on martyrdom, with the beatification of Paul Yun Ji-Chung and 123 of his companion martyrs and the Youth Day’s theme. “A third of the Korean martyrs came from my diocese,” declared Bishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik to Vatican Insider. “For them faith and life were the same thing. And they will forever remain a model for all. The young people who will come here from all Asia will redisover the gift that can make their own lives compelling and exciting as well.” What are expectations? “The Pope’s visit will last four days, and then it will end. What will remain with us is Jesus, and this is what is important. For Jesus and with Jesus I can go anywhere and meet anyone. Pope Francis is only pointing to this and,in doing so he throws us all off: he helps us to never become comfortable with our conventionalities. This is a stimulus to trust in God in all that we do.”
See also Rome Reports video
