In his message for the World Day of Peace, the Pope asked for three specific things:
First, as he has been insistently repeating in recent weeks, that rich countries forgive the debt of the poorer ones.
POPE FRANCIS
May the Jubilee be an opportunity to forgive debts, especially those that affect the poorest countries.
Second, the Pope asked for a fixed percentage of military spending to be redirected to create a global fund to combat hunger.
POPE FRANCIS
The real answer is not more weapons, more sanctions. I was ashamed when I read that a group of states have pledged to spend two percent, I think, of their GDPs on buying weapons as a response to what is happening now. Madness.
Finally, the Pope called for respect for human life from conception to natural death. As a concrete gesture, he requested the abolition of the death penalty in all countries. At the beginning of December, he expressed his deep concern about this issue.
POPE FRANCIS
Today, it comes to my heart to ask all of you to pray for the detainees who are on death row in the United States. I believe there are 13 or 15.
Precisely two weeks later, the United States’ President announced the commutation of the death sentences of 37 prisoners.
The initiative for the Church to dedicate the first day of the year to peace originated during the papacy of Pope Paul VI. The 2025 day will be the 58th celebration.
JRB
