To attain the good of peace there must be a clear and conscious acknowledgment that violence is an unacceptable evil and that it never solves problems.
“Violence is a lie, for it goes against the truth of our faith, the truth of our humanity. Violence destroys what it claims to defend: the dignity, the life, the freedom of human beings”. What is needed is* a great effort to form consciences* and to educate the younger generation to goodness by upholding that
integral and fraternal humanism which the Church proclaims and promotes. This is the foundation for a social, economic and political order respectful of the dignity, freedom and fundamental rights of each person.
The good of peace and the common good
- Fostering peace by overcoming evil with good requires careful reflection * on the common good* and on its social and political implications. When the common good is promoted at every level, peace is promoted. Can an individual find complete fulfilment without taking account of his social nature, that is, his being “with” and “for” others? The common good closely concerns him. It closely concerns every expression of his social nature: the family, groups, associations, cities, regions, states, the community of peoples and nations. * Each person, in some way, is called to work for the common good*, constantly looking out for the good of others as if it were his own. This responsibility belongs in a particular way to political authorities at every level, since they are called to create that sum of social conditions which permit and foster in human beings the integral development of their person.
The common good therefore demands respect for and the integral promotion of the person and his fundamental rights, as well as respect for and the promotion of the rights of nations on the universal plane. In this regard, the Second Vatican Council observed that “the increasingly close interdependence gradually encompassing the entire world is leading to an increasingly universal common good… and this involves rights and duties with respect to the whole human race. Every social group must take account of the needs and legitimate aspirations of other groups and the common good of the entire human family”. The good of humanity as a whole, including future generations, calls for true international cooperation, to which every nation must offer its contribution