The pope's State of The World Address

Instead of the United Nations giving us the latest developments in the whole world today, Pope Leo XIV addressed the whole of humanity last January 9 in the Vatican through 184 ambassadors and other diplomats including the Philippine envoy to The Holy See.

In the course of his more than one-hour speech, the pope mentioned the following countries in Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, and the Middle East, in reference to the state of world peace, and the challenges that humanity faces today: Italy, Kazakhstan, Burundi, Belarus, Turkey, Lebanon, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique, the Holy Land, Palestine, Israel, Venezuela, the Caribbean nations, Sudan, South Sudan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Myanmar, and Vietnam. The Philippines was not mentioned.

Further, the pope mentioned the following peoples and commended their works in the poor's struggles for peace, justice and for survival amidst poverty, disasters and calamities: the ambassadors, the people of Rome, the Italians, the peoples of Turkey and Lebanon, the sufferings of the people in Bangladesh, the Sahel region in Nigeria, the religious discriminations against Christians in Europe and the Americas, and the poverty exacerbated by climate change in Asia and Africa.

The holy father also deplored the injustices against the Palestinians and Venezuelans by more powerful nations. He denounced the oppressive and unjust treatment of immigrants and refugees. He rejected the diplomacy of force and coercion instead of principle-based multilateral dialogues. He decried why death penalties are not yet abolished in certain jurisdictions, especially those which are dominated by Christians, and why abortion is disguised as a pro-choice, rather than pro-life stance of many Christians.

He cited the following important persons in underscoring his message for world unity and principle-based dialogue for peace: Ambassador George Poulides, dean of the Vatican Diplomatic Corps; the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I; the two Venezuelan about to be canonized, Jose Gregorio Hernandez and Carmen Rondiles. These two were mentioned in relation to the recent developments in Venezuela and the rights of its people.

The pope also called attention to the escalation of hostilities in East Asia, which we know to include the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea. Without mentioning China, Russia, and North Korea, it can be discerned from the tone and context of the holy father's denunciation of the problems concerning peace and geopolitics, Without saying it directly, the pope expressed his displeasure by Trump's use of force in the extraction of Nicolas Maduro. He mentioned that problems between sovereign states should be given political solutions and not unilateral military actions.

Cited for their respective immense contributions to the imperative of global peace were Pope Francis, Pope Leo's venerable predecessor, St. Elias in Damascus, and Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Leo made mention and discussed extensively the teachings of St. Augustine who wrote “De Civitate Dei” or “The City of God”, where justice, peace, love and shared prosperity reign supreme, rather than war, aggression, and injustices.

Pope Leo also made reference to a number of declarations, treaties, conventions and laws documents and universal principles in relation to his call for peace among all peoples across continents and regardless of religions and cultures. He called upon all peoples and nations to return to the original purpose of every man and woman: to give glory to God through our actions, decisions and relationships.

I hope that Presidents Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong-un were listening. I hope that the UN shall reiterate the holy father's call for world peace through respectful and principle-based dialogues.