VATICAN CITY (CNS): In his strongest statement since the September 11 attacks, Pope John Paul II said countries had a right to defend themselves against international terrorists.
But he said true peace could not be achieved without “justice and that form of love which is forgiveness”.
In a message for World Day of Peace, to be celebrated on January 1, the Pope urged Jewish, Christian and Islamic religious leaders to condemn terrorism publicly in order to deny “terrorists any form of religious or moral legitimacy”.
He said the international community must fight terrorism by addressing underlying injustices like poverty, but he called the terrorists’ claim to be acting on behalf of the poor “a patent falsehood”.
The 14-page text, “No Peace Without Justice, No Justice Without Forgiveness”, was released at a Vatican press conference on December 11 and focused on the unstable world situation since September 11. The message’s theme, originally announced in June as a reflection on the role of forgiveness in peace, was changed after the attacks to add the element of justice.
