PACEM IN TERRIS

Pacem in terris, quam homines universi cupidissime quovis tempore appetiverunt, condi confirmarique non posse constat, nisi ordine, quem Deus constituit, sancte servato.

Peace on earth, which all men of every era have most eagerly yearned for, can be firmly established only if the order laid down by God be dutifully observed.

Fifty years ago, in April 11, 1963, John XXIII issued the papal encyclical Pacem in Terris. He signed Pacem in Terris in the context of impending world war aggravated by the nuclear arms race. However, his hopeful outlook pervades throughout the encyclical, highlighting the marvelous order inherent in the created reality (2), respect for human rights (11), human dignity (31), and the necessity of public authority (46-59). In this article, we will attempt to discuss the world events that pushed John XXIII to issued Pacem in Terris, the content of the encyclical. A discussion on the impact of the document from the day it was issued to this day will cap the article.   

World Events

The issuance of Pacen in Terris did not happen in a vacuum. It has a spatio-temporal context. There was a building-up of ascending events that reaches its climax to the act of the pontiff to speak to the members of the Church and to the people of goodwill about the Church stand on the world events that occurred that time. It is a response to the signs of times, focusing on the social dimension of what can be purely religious matter.

The Post World War II era is a momentous era for many countries who had been under foreign colonizers. It is in this years that many of the former colonies of world superpowers had gained independence. The independence given by the colonizers to the colonies can be seen in the framework of human dignity. Colonizers realized the capacity to self-governance inherent in the colonies. Such capacity for self-governance resonates from their human dignity; that like them (colonizers), they (colonies) too are capable of doing the same thing; that they too are human being like them capable of aspiring and exerting effort to achieve such desire.  

Though established in 1942, the United Nations gained its momentum in playing her role in international community in the 50’s and 60’s. There was the development of the United Nations as an international governing body, promoting and defending the human rights, keeping the peace among the nations through her arbitration courts. One notable act of the United Nations is the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights. Here, the international body enumerates the rights due to a human person that everyone ought to render towards the other.[1]

Though the United States and Soviet Union fought together against the Axis power during the recent World War, there existed a mutual distrust and enmity between them. This tense relationship culminates to what we call today the Cold War era. The war between these two superpowers was manifested through combative rhetoric, arms buildup and interventionist approach to international relations. The Cuban Missile Crisis, the Korean and Vietnam Wars and the construction of the Berlin Wall are the concrete manifestation of this war.[2]

It is in this atmosphere of impeding war and the widening of consciousness as an international community that John XXIII issued the Pacem in Terris, with the aim of address the social concerns that the world faces from the point of view of a pastor.

Content

The document is keenly divided into four sections. Through these sections John XXIII to elucidate the following points: order between people, relations between individuals and public authorities in a single state, relations between states, and relations of people and of political communities with the world community.

The first section of the encyclical establishes the relationship between individuals and humankind, encompassing the issues of human rights and moral duties.

Any well-regulated and productive association of men in society demands the acceptance of one fundamental principle: that each individual man is truly a person. His is a nature, that is, endowed with intelligence and free will. As such he has rights and duties, which together flow as a direct consequence from his nature. These rights and duties are universal and inviolable, and therefore altogether inalienable (Pacem in Terris, 9).[3]

The second section addresses the relationship between man and state, dwelling on the collective authority of the latter.

Hence, representatives of the State have no power to bind men in conscience, unless their own authority is tied to God's authority, and is a participation in it. (Pacem in Terris, 49). The attainment of the common good is the sole reason for the existence of civil authorities (Pacem in Terris, 54).

The third section establishes the need for equality amongst nations and the need for the state to be subject to rights and duties that the individual must abide by.

The first point to be settled is that mutual ties between States must be governed by truth. Truth calls for the elimination of every trace of racial discrimination, and the consequent recognition of the inviolable principle that all States are by nature equal in dignity (Pacem in Terris, 86).

The final section presents the need for greater relations between nations, thus resulting in collective states assisting other states.

Just as individual men may not pursue their own private interests in a way that is unfair and detrimental to others, so too it would be criminal in a State to aim at improving itself by the use of methods which involve other nations in injury and unjust oppression (Pacem in Terris, 92).

The encyclical ends with the urging of Catholics to assist non-Christians and non-Catholics in political and social aspects.

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[1] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/, October 8, 2013.

[2] Cold War, retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war on October 8, 2013.

[3] Pacem in Terris, retrieved from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_xxiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_11041963_pacem_en.html, on October 8, 2013.