Vatican City, Jan 19, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Speaking to members of the General Inspectorate for Public Security at the Vatican, Pope John Paul stressed the need of teaching peace as the true alternative to violence.
In the yearly encounter with the corps that provides security to all Pope’s events, the Pontiff thanked them for their service, “which for more than twenty-five years I follow attentively.”
“Your job has become more complicated in the last few years because episodes of terrorist violence have greatly upset the security of our cities. While our vigilance has been intensified with every method, every day the commitment to teach peace appears more urgent,” the Pope said.
The Holy Father concluded by saying that “in the face of the many dramatic situations of our time, there is the risk of giving in to fatalism as if peace were an objective that is impossible to achieve. We must not succumb to this temptation! Teaching peace, with its specific demands, must continue to be the object of everyone's incessant commitment.”