Fighting Poverty To Build Peace -- Part 2

Quotes from the Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace
Fighting Poverty To Build Peace
January 1, 2009

Poverty contributes to conflict.
“Back in 1993, my venerable Predecessor Pope John Paul II, in his Message for the World Day of Peace that year, drew attention to the negative repercussions for peace when entire populations live in poverty. Poverty is often a contributory factor or a compounding element in conflicts, including armed ones. In turn, these conflicts fuel further tragic situations of poverty. “Our world”, he wrote, “shows increasing evidence of another grave threat to peace: many individuals and indeed whole peoples are living today in conditions of extreme poverty” (no. 1).

Poverty is a threat to human dignity.
“The gap between rich and poor has become more marked, even in the most economically developed nations. This is a problem which the conscience of humanity cannot ignore, since the conditions in which a great number of people are living are an insult to their innate dignity and as a result are a threat to the authentic and harmonious progress of the world community” (no. 1).