On this day, when Ukraine celebrates its national holiday known as Ukraine's Independence Day, we once again invite everyone to a joint and urgent prayer for peace. For reflection, we bring a substantial part of a letter addressed by His Holiness Pope Benedict XV in August 1917 to the leaders of the warring nations:
In this agonizing situation, faced with such a serious threat, we do not pursue specific political goals, nor do we advocate the interests of any of the warring parties, but (…) we again call for peace and urgently appeal to those who hold the fates of nations in their hands. However, to avoid limiting ourselves to generalities, as necessary before, we now wish to move on to concrete and real proposals and invite the governments of the warring nations to agree on the following points, which seem to be the cornerstones of a just and lasting peace, while leaving it to these governments to clarify and supplement them.
First of all, the fundamental principle must be clear: the moral force of law stands above the material force of weapons. This requires a just consent to simultaneous mutual disarmament according to established norms and guarantees (…). Let weapons be replaced by an arbitration body that will strive for peace both through agreed rules and also sanctions against any state that refuses to submit international issues to arbitration or does not accept its decisions.
Thus, the rule of law will be established, and transport routes will be unblocked. Nations will thereby gain genuinely free access to shared seas, which could eliminate many causes of conflicts and open new sources of prosperity and progress for all.
As for war reparations, we see no other way than the general rule of their complete and mutual remission, which is, after all, justified by the enormous advantages of disarmament, especially since the continuation of such vast bloodshed cannot be accepted solely for economic reasons. If special reasons were to prevent this in some cases, they must be carefully considered with regard to justice and law.
These peace agreements and the enormous benefits they entail, however, are not possible without mutual restoration of currently occupied territories. (…)
These are the main principles on which we believe the future arrangement of nations should rest. (…) Therefore, we present them to you, who in this tragic hour are guiding the fates of the fighting nations, with dear and sweet hope that you will accept them and that you will thus soon end this dreadful struggle, which with each passing day appears more and more like a senseless slaughterhouse. (…) Recognize your supremely serious responsibility before God and man: upon your decisions depend the peace and joy of countless families, the lives of millions of young people, the happiness of the nations that you have the duty to safeguard. May the Lord inspire you to decisions that are in accordance with His most blessed will, may you earn the recognition of your contemporaries and be recorded in history as makers of peace.
Meanwhile, we urgently join in prayer and penance with all who long for peace and we implore for the light and counsel of the Holy Spirit.
Given in the Vatican, August 1, 1917
Benedict XV.
(The full text of the letter can be found HERE>>>)
