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                                  VIS-Press releases   
      
   FRATERNITY IS AS VITAL AS FREEDOM AND EQUALITY   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 16 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, the Holy Father   
   received the Letters of Credence of five new ambassadors to the Holy See:   
   Suresh Prasad Pradhan of Nepal; Royson Mabuku Mukwena of Zambia; Miquel Angel   
   Canturri Montanya of Andorra, Vivianne Fock Tave of Seychelles, and Boubacar   
   Sidiki Toure of Mali.   
      
   The Holy Father first addressed the diplomats as a group, then gave each of   
   them a speech in written form concerning issues specific to his or her own   
   country.   
      
   The Pope focused his collective remarks on the subject of human fraternity, in   
   which context he recalled appeals made over the course of the year "for Haiti,   
   devastated first by the earthquake and them by the cholera epidemic.   
   Unfortunately", he said, "other tragedies have taken place in a number of   
   nations this year. Your own counties, the international community and the   
   voluntary sector have responded to the urgent appeals for aid, aid which must   
   certainly continue and intensify. For her part the Church, through her various   
   institutions, also contributes in many ways over the course of time".   
      
   "The great ideal of fraternity, which is part of the national emblem of many   
   countries, has had less resonance in the development of philosophical and   
   political ideas than other ideals such as freedom, equality, progress or   
   unity", the Pope observed. "It is a principle which has become a dead letter in   
   contemporary political societies, due above all to the influence of   
   individualist and collectivist ideologies. Yet fraternity has a special   
   significance for Christians, because of God's plan of fraternal love, the   
   fraternity revealed to us by Christ".   
      
   "In order to live with dignity all human beings need respect, just as they need   
   justice to be done and their rights to be recognised in concrete terms.   
   However, this is not enough to live a fully human life, for human beings also   
   need fraternity, ... not only in their immediate relationships but also on a   
   planetary scale. And, although the current process of globalisation brings   
   people closer together it does not make them brothers".   
      
   "Human reason", said Benedict XVI, "is capable of recognising the equality of   
   all men and the need to limit excessive inequalities among them, yet it is   
   incapable of establishing fraternity. That is a supernatural gift. The Church   
   sees the achievement of human fraternity on earth as a vocation that is part of   
   the creative design of God, Who wishes her to create this fraternity at both   
   the local and universal level, as she does in the countries you represent   
   before the Holy See".   
      
   Yet, the Pope concluded, "although fraternity among men can raise positive   
   echoes in terms of 'social effectiveness', it must not be forgotten that it is   
   not a means but an end in itself. The Church believes that Christ revealed to   
   us that God is love. Thus people who believe in divine charity are certain that   
   the path of love is open to all men and women, and that efforts to establish   
   universal fraternity are not in vain".   
   CD/VIS 20101216 (510)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)