"What We Are For"

"Let us say what we are for rather than what we are against," said Pope John XXIII last January, while proposing a new encyclical on world peace to a group of Vatican aides.* It was a point well taken: too many papal pronouncements in the past have displayed a finger-wagging, negative tone. Perhaps because of John's injunction to think positive, work on the new encyclical, the eighth of his pontificate, went rapidly; the Pope was pleased with the first draft, had only to pencil in a few flourishes of his own. Last week

John XXIII signed and issued the 15,000-word document called, after its opening words in Latin, Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth). It is the first encyclical addressed not only to the bishops and faithful of the Roman Catholic Church but also to "all men of good will."

With Right Reason. Order is the theme of Pacem in Terris, and the encyclical itself is appropriately a document both lucid and logical. In outlining his plan for world peace. Pope John relies heavily on two concepts dear to Catholic theology: natural law--man's God-given, innate knowledge of what is right and wrong--and right reason, by which man applies this knowledge to concrete situations. With these instruments, the Pope argues, man can see how order may be realized in human relationships.

sb BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. The search for world order must begin with the fact that "every human being is a person endowed with intelligence and free will." As such, he is endowed with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, assembly and association, "free initiative in the economic field," a just wage and decent living standards. He even has a right to unmanaged news--"to be informed truthfully about public events." In one of the strongest papal statements in history on religious freedom, Pacem in Terris says also that "every human being has the right to honor God according to the dictates of an upright conscience, and therefore the right to worship God privately and publicly."

These rights also carry with them proportionate duties. "The right of every man to life is correlative with the duty to preserve it; his right to a decent standard of living with the duty of living it becomingly; and his right to investigate the truth freely with the duty of seeking it and possessing it profoundly." Therefore man must respect the rights of his peers and cooperate with them in creating "a well-ordered, beneficial" political society.

sb BETWEEN MAN AND THE STATE. Rights and duties can only be exercised properly in a free society, under government by and for the people. Where the civil authority uses "threats and fear of punishment or promises of rewards, it cannot move men to promote the common good of all." Nor can an oppressive government claim the allegiance of its subjects, for "it follows that if civil authorities legislate for or allow anything that is contrary to that order and therefore contrary to the law of God, neither the laws made nor the authorizations granted can be binding on the conscience of the citizens."

In acting on behalf of its citizens, civil authority must guard the rights of minorities, give equal protection of the law to all men, and impartially provide such essential services as education and public health. It cannot unjustly prevent man's effort to better his lot in life: "State activity in the economic field, no matter what its breadth or depth may be, ought not to be exercised in such a way as to curtail an individual's freedom of personal initiative." There is no single "most suitable form of government," but natural law requires of any political system "that government officials be chosen in conformity with constitutional procedures and perform their specific functions within the limits of the law."

sb BETWEEN STATE AND STATE. The same moral law that governs the relations of men also covers the diplomatic dealings of nations, which should be based on truth and justice. Citizens acting for governments cannot set aside their "personal dignity," nor "the very law of their being, which is the moral law." Nations therefore must eliminate "every trace of racism," drop all colonial ambitions, protect ethnic minorities and political refugees. Rich nations have the obligation to assist the poor; all nations should resolve their disputes by negotiation rather than war. Since "people live in constant fear lest the storm that every moment threatens should break upon them." world leaders must above all come to grips with the question of disarmament. "Justice, right reason and humanity urgently demand that the arms race should cease. That the stockpiles which exist in various countries should be reduced equally and simultaneously. That nuclear weapons should be banned."

sb BETWEEN STATES AND THE WORLD COMMUNITY: The 20th century's extraordinary progress in science and technology has made one family of the world: national economies are interdependent, and the peace and security of one country necessarily depend upon the peace and security of all countries. In this new age, new political instruments may be needed, particularly "a public authority having worldwide power and endowed with the proper means for the efficacious pursuit of the universal common good in concrete form." This world government--which should not replace or limit the autonomy of existing political units--might well develop from the U.N. "It is our earnest wish that the United Nations Organization may become ever more equal to the magnitude and nobility of its tasks, and that the day may come when every human being will find therein an effective safeguard for the rights which derive directly from his dignity as a person."

The U.S.: "We Agree." At the traditional Holy Thursday reception for diplomats accredited to the Vatican, the Pope said that he hoped his encyclical "will be heard and understood by all"--and it seemed that it was. There was a chorus of praise from leaders of other churches, and U.N. Secretary General U. Thant chimed in with "respectful homage" to the Pope for "his great wisdom, vision and courage." As a description of personal rights and the role of government, Pacem in Terns so closely conformed to Western practice and ideals that the U.S. State Department abandoned its custom of ignoring papal encyclicals and said: "No country could be more responsive than the U.S. to its profound appeal to, and reassertion of, the dignity of the individual, and man's right to peace, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." An American diplomat in Rome exulted: "It embodies everything the U.S. has been working for. We couldn't agree with it more."

The words from the Red world were equally warm. Moscow's Izvestia, whose Editor Aleksei Adzhubei visited Pope John in March, made it clear that the encyclical met with favor in the Kremlin. Without waiting for guidance from Moscow, leaders of Communist parties in Italy, Belgium and France hailed the peace-loving tone of Pacem in Terris; Paris' L'Humanite called it a major step toward unity of action for peace, and Poland's Zycie Warszawy heralded it as an encyclical of "peaceful coexistence." These appraisals shrugged off the letter's strong rejection of totalitarianism, and concentrated on its espousal of those causes--such as the liberation of the working classes and anti-colonialism--that Communists like to talk about. The Vatican radio hastily said that the Communists were missing the point: the "central nucleus" of the encyclical was "the dignity of the human being, his rights, his duties."

More Startling Moves? The Red world may also have been impressed by the implication of Pacem in Terris that Vatican efforts to achieve a new accord with Moscow will continue--even though it put those efforts clearly into perspective. Pope John's recent overtures to Communist leaders are not an accommodation of church teaching with that of Marx, but a bold stroke of diplomacy intended to remind men of both East and West that a new era is dawning, requiring new policies. To Pope John, the world is in the midst of evolution, and political institutions need not be identified with the teachings that they stem from. Even if doctrines remain the same, the movements they foster "cannot avoid being subject to changes." Thus he notes, in what may be a forecast of even more startling moves by the Vatican, "It can happen that a meeting for the attainment of some practical end, which was formerly deemed inopportune or unproductive, might now or in the future be considered useful."

Pacem in Terris declares that the achievement of universal order depends upon the willingness of all men to meet for the attainment of these practical ends. The Pope summons the Christian believer, guided by prudence, to lead the way and become "a spark of light, a center of love" among his fellow men. But he also makes clear that one more quality is needed. "There can be no peace between men," he warned, "unless there is peace within each one of them; unless, that is, each one builds up within himself the order wished by God."

* Reportedly including the Vatican's Secretary of State, Amleto Cardinal Cicognani, who for many years was apostolic delegate in Washington; his principal assistants, Archbishops Angelo Dell' Acqua and Antonio Samore; the Vatican Protocol Chief, Consignor Igino Cardinale; and Monsignor Pietro Pavan, a consultant to several curial congregations, who composed the final draft of the Pope's 1961 encyclical on social problems, Mater et Magistra.

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