Every year, Catholic Popes discuss peace with the ambassadors of other countries to the Vatican (including Taiwan). This year, the theme of religious liberty was emphasized.
by Massimo Introvigne*
*A paper presented at the webinar “No Peace Without Justice: A New Look at the Tai Ji Men Case,” co-organized by CESNUR and Human Rights Without Frontiers on April 24, 2024, UN International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace.
An article already published in Bitter Winter on April 26th, 2024.
Among Roman Catholics, there is a special literary genre in which the Church proposes its reflections on multilateralism and diplomacy for peace. It is the speech that every year the Pope addresses to the Diplomatic Corps accredited with the Vatican, which is a sovereign state in addition to being a religious institution. Once a year, in January, the Pope gathers the ambassadors to the Vatican and presents to them his wishes for the new year, together with his comments on the international diplomatic situation. It is worth noting that the Vatican is one of the states that maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and there is thus an Ambassador of Taiwan to the Holy See, who participates in such gatherings.
This year, Pope Francis met the ambassadors on January 8, 2024, reminding them that for religious believers “peace is primarily a gift of God,” yet “it is also a responsibility incumbent upon all of us,” an appropriate comment in our times where peace is “increasingly threatened, weakened and in part lost.”
The Pope mentioned the different wars that plague the world today, but he also noted that “modern wars no longer take place only on clearly defined battlefields, nor do they involve soldiers alone. In a context where it appears that the distinction between military and civil targets is no longer respected, there is no conflict that does not end up in some way indiscriminately striking the civilian population. The events in Ukraine and Gaza are clear proof of this.”
What is perhaps particularly interesting for us today in the Pope’s speech of January 8 is his comment that peace may be denied even in countries where there are no wars. Even there, Francis said, “At every moment of its existence, human life must be preserved and defended; yet I note with regret, especially in the West, the continued spread of a culture of death, which in the name of a false compassion discards children, the elderly and the sick.”
There is also no peace, he added, where there is no war, yet human rights are not fully respected. “The path to peace calls for respect for human rights, in accordance with the simple yet clear formulation contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose seventy-fifth anniversary we recently celebrated. These principles are self-evident and commonly accepted. Regrettably, in recent decades attempts have been made to introduce new rights that are neither fully consistent with those originally defined nor always acceptable.” The notion of human rights has thus become confused. By continuously adding new rights, we risk forgetting what the core ones are, including religious liberty.
The path for peace, the Pope stated, “requires the protection of religious freedom and respect for minorities. It is painful to note, for example, that an increasing number of countries are adopting models of centralized control over religious freedom, especially by the massive use of technology. In other places, minority religious communities often find themselves in increasingly precarious situations. In some cases, they risk extinction due to a combination of terrorism, attacks on their cultural heritage and more subtle measures such as the proliferation of anti-conversion laws, the manipulation of electoral rules, and financial restrictions.” Note the reference to “subtle measures” and “financial restrictions,” which shows an awareness that unjust taxes are today one of the weapons used to limit religious and spiritual liberty.
The Pope also mentioned the crisis of multilateralism. “Organizations established to foster security, peace and cooperation are no longer capable of uniting all their members around one table. There is the risk of a ‘monadology,’” he said, “and of splitting into ‘clubs’ that only admit states deemed ideologically compatible. Even agencies devoted to the common good and to technical questions, which have thus far proved effective, risk paralysis due to ideological polarization and exploitation by individual states.”
Finally, Pope Francis noted that religious liberty may be denied not only by violent persecution but also by slander and the spreading of “fake news.” New technologies, including artificial intelligence, offer “exciting opportunities” but can also be used against justice, religious liberty, and peace. Each year, the Pope publishes a Message for the World Day of Peace. This year’s message is devoted to the challenges of artificial intelligence. “It is essential, he commented, that technological development take place in an ethical and responsible way, respecting the centrality of the human person, whose place can never be taken by an algorithm or a machine.”
In the end, the message that the Catholic Church, like other religions, proposes to humanity is the one that gives the title to our webinar: there can be no peace without justice. Some 2,700 years ago the Jewish Prophet Isaiah said it in three words, translated in the Latin version of the Bible as “Opus iustitiae pax,” “Peace is the work of justice.” In his January 8 speech, Pope Francis remembered his predecessor Pope Pius XII, who went through the tragedy of Word War II, and adopted as his motto as a bishop “Opus iustitiae pax.” On a personal note, the future Pope Pius XII, under whose pontificate I was born, chose the motto because he was impressed by an inscription including it on the church of Santa Maria dell’Anima, where my maternal Bavarian ancestors who came to Rome escaping the French Revolutionary invaders’ denial of their religious liberty as Catholics were originally buried.
There is no peace in the world because there is no justice. The states waging wars of aggressions and killing civilians indiscriminately are primarily responsible for this sad state of affairs. However, those who oppress their own citizens denying their human rights, including their fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief, often trough “subtle” “financial measures” and the manipulation of tax laws, also contribute to creating a world without justice and thus without peace.
We are here to ask for peace, justice, and freedom of religion or belief. The Tai Ji Men case is of international importance for three different reasons. First, it is a case where freedom of religion or belief has been denied for years in the otherwise democratic and peaceful Taiwan , proving that even such countries are not immune from injustice. Second, it is a paradigmatic case where injustice, the enemy of peace, has been promoted through the subtle but dangerous tool of fabricated tax bills. Third, the victim of the Tai Ji Men case is a movement that has powerfully contributed to spreading a culture of conscience, peace, and justice throughout the world.
Opus iustitiae pax. Taiwanese authorities should perhaps walk themselves around the church of Santa Maria dell’Anima in Rome and meditate on the inscription. I am sure they sincerely want peace. But peace is the work of justice, and there will be no peace for Taiwan without justice for Tai Ji Men.