“In the totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, the principle that force predominates over reason was carried to the extreme. This principle must be overturned and total recognition must be given to the rights of the human conscience”
“Never again do men and peoples rise up against each other! Every time a conflict breaks out, the whole world suffers and is distorted! (…) Let us solemnly vow never again to allow war to be a means of resolving conflicts.”
“The world is still threatened by forces which generate conflicts and wars. Day by day fresh violence is inflicted upon individuals and entire peoples, and the culture of death takes hold in the unjustifiable recourse to violence to resolve tensions. (…)The Church is called to make a profound commitment to international and interreligious efforts to bring about the triumph of peace, justice and reconciliation.”
With the consent of Bernard Lecomte “The World According to John Paul II”; Tallandier 2018
Excerpts from JP2 speeches: Encyclical Centissimus Annus, 1991; Address to the Diplomatic Corps in the Vatican, January 2003; Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia, November 1999
