The first speech of the Holy Father to the United Nations in October 1979 brought a big reaction. The statement that the spirit of war awakens and intensifies when human rights are being violated and therefore these rights become a different name for peace, or a precondition for peace, were challenging the “principles” governing the international order.
Following the Papal pilgrimages of those years, you can feel again so many tragedies experienced across continents, from Latin America to Africa, and Asia. But at the same time, through these journeys, one can follow an evolution which, although very slow, in the midst of so many obstacles and difficulties, was beginning to be visible in these regions. And this is also thanks to the presence of the Pope, thanks to his gestures, and especially his words, always sincere, always direct. Words derived from the Gospel, from the strength of faith, but because they were spoken in a particular country, in a certain situation which, after all, often become explosive, if not outright, a challenge. The words which, referring to “Do not be afraid!”, spoken by the Pope at the beginning of his pontificate, aroused a sense of freedom, that is, hope in peoples and nations still oppressed, living under the pillory of dictatorships.
With the permission of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “At the side of the Saint”
St. Stanislaw BM Publishing House, Krakow 2013
