Discurso al Embajador del PERÚ,
Excmo. Sr. Don Hubert Wieland ALZAMORA*

17 de octubre de 1987

Mr. Ambassador,

I listened with pleasure to the kind words which you expressed on presenting your Letters of Credence as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Peru to the Holy See. They are a further proof of the filial affection which the sons and daughters of your noble nation, to which I had the pleasure of making a pastoral visit, have for the Successor of Peter.

I want to thank you for the sentiments you expressed and for the greeting which you convey to me from the President, Alan Garcia Perez. In cordially welcoming you, I want to assure you of my support so that the high office which you are about to undertake will meet with every success.

2. In your address you mentioned the urgent need to unite wills and energies towards achieving, in this century and in this millennium, the basic conditions which will allow Peru and the other nations of Latin America to work for the construction of a world in which the values of peace and solidarity may be ever present points of reference. However, this requires the overcoming of any kind of dependence which stands in the way of its achievement.

These values are always relevant. It is no wonder then that they have been deeply felt among the pastors and the people of Peru. At this time, the Church, faithful to the message of her divine Founder, is anxious to be ever more present in every part of the world. This applies to your nation also. As I endeavoured to point out in the Encyclical Dives in Misericordia, the community of the Church tries to share with the men and women of today «this profound and ardent desire for a life that is just in every respect and which does not fail to reflect on every aspect of justice, in the terms demanded by humanity and society» (n. 12).

In this regard, the Holy See observes with great interest how the highest offices of State exercise at all levels care for the common good and the eradication of terrorism as a necessary duty. You have a valuable heritage, which was won with great sacrifices and deserves to be defended. To do this you have to draw on the honest and loyal participation of all who make up the Peruvian family, since political life in its highest expression is the exercise of rights and obligations through which the citizens are called inescapably and responsibly to work for the common good.

3. To achieve these objectives Peru is making very praiseworthy efforts to answer the challenges of the present moment. Foremost among these is the economic question. The difficulties which arise in this area involve a large number of nations, and not only on the American continent. It is certain that the economic burden is so heavy that it places in difficulty the free and responsible running of the country and its progress, and this also in the moral and political arenas. The effort to be free of internal and external dependence must be carried on in a way that respects the ethical norms, and not on the basis of merely relativistic criteria which might threaten the fundamental rights both of the individual and of society. If it is to be really so, the common good can never go outside the moral considerations.

In addition, this project, if it is not to be reduced to a mere fantasy, must be accompanied by the creation of new international financial systems where, thanks to the solidarity between nations, especially the ones which are involved in the solution of the present problems, the proper reforms may be agreed upon which are so important to the overcoming of the other serious problems such as marginalization, violence and underdevelopment.

4. Down through history, the Church has worked for the dignity of humanity and of peoples. It was precisely in the City of the Kings that it raised its voice loudest in defence of the rights of individuals and especially of the most needy. In order to achieve the true liberation of mankind from all that binds it, both materially and spiritually, it has always had recourse to «the means of the gospel and not to any form of violence or to the dialectic of class struggle» (Puebla, 485). Let it not be said that violence is a moral act. No matter the source, any attempt against human dignity has to be considered as morally wrong and therefore rejected.

On the threshold of the fifth centenary of the evangelization of the New World, the Church in Peru, as in the other countries of that «continent of hope», is preparing for the great event with deep gratitude to the Lord for the inestimable gift of the faith. In perfect unison with the first missionaries, among whom we should mention St Toribio de Mogrovejo, the distinguished Pastor of the Archdiocese of Lima, outstanding for his defence of human dignity in the face of all kinds of injustice and violence, the Christian communities also will be present through their voices and witness, in the hearts and the homes of Peru and of the whole of Latin America, proclaiming the joyful reality of the good news of salvation.

Mr. Ambassador, in offering my good wishes once more for the success of the high office which you now begin, I assure you of my prayers to the Almighty, through the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary, that he may always bestow his gifts upon you and your family, upon the governors of your noble Nation, as well as upon the beloved people of Peru whom I hope to visit again before long.

*L'Osservatore Romano. Weekly Edition in English n.46 p.6.

© Copyright 1987 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana