The purpose of overcoming the violence that threatens the construction of a world based on justice and peace calls for responsibility to be taken by society as a whole. With this conviction Benedict XVI addressed representatives of Interpol – the organization made up of police from 190 of the World’s countries – whom he received in audience this morning, Friday 9 November, in the Paul VI Hall, on the occasion of their 81st general assembly that took place in the past few days in Rome.
A concern of the Pope has been the evolution of criminal violence that, in our age, provokes suffering on the entire human family. It shows itself, noted the Pontiff, every time in a new way by fostering a dangerous phenomenon that constitutes among other things “a grave destabilizing threat to society and, at times, poses a major challenge to the supremacy of the state”.
It is because of this state of affairs that the Church and the Holy See “encourage all those who help to combat the scourge of violence and crime, as our world resembles more and more a global village”, the Pope said, then making reference to the gravest forms of criminal activity: especially terrorism, “one of the most brutal forms of violence”, and organized crime that “proliferates in ordinary places” and often “strikes in darkness”. Under the last, the Pope listed the trafficking of persons, drugs, arms, contraband goods, and even pharmaceuticals, “used in large part by the poor, which kill instead of curing”.
To fight and contain this crime, the Pope called for a “courageous and lucid analysis of the underlying motives”, not exclusively those political, together with assuming responsibility of everyone who can impact this situation: starting with families and schools, religious institutions, means of social communication and each and every citizen. “Everyone,” he concluded, “has his or her particular responsibility in building a future of justice and peace”.