John Paul II and the Family of Peoples [antikvár]

DEDICATED TO CARDINAL VAN THUÁNIt should have been His Eminence Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyén Van Thuán, President of the Pontifícal Council for Justice and Peace until 16 September 2002, the day on which the Lord called him home, who presented this publication. As a final and modest gift, we wish to dedicate, or rather present to him, this book in remembrance of his paternal presence among us.There could nőt be a more fitting publication. A previous col-lection of Popé John Paul II's Addresses to the Diplomatic Corps (1978-1988), edited by the Pontifícal Council, was entitled The Holy See at the Service of Peace, since the primary task of diplo-macy is to assure peace. One of the essential characteristics of Cardinal Van Thuán was that of a "man of peace" who responded with love to every form of violence used against him. The primary witnesses to this are the captors who became his friends during his thirteen years of detention and solitary confinement in Vietnamese prisons.Reviewing the salient points of Papai Teachings identified in the texts of the Papai Addresses that follow, there are many ele-ments that recall the Cardinal's nature.When John Paul II speaks to diplomats, we have noted, he goes beyond their persons: his words, addressed to the humán person, each individual, affect all, as "the universal vocation of the Church concerns all peoples". Whoever has had the opportunity to be near Cardinal Van Thuán, as we have had the grace to be, will certainly remain struck by the enormity of his relationships, whether con-sidered in quality, quantity, or variety. Persons of every social, religious and lay background, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, from every continent, people and nation, were addressed with af-fection, facilitated by his command of many languages other than his own.The Holy Father often reminds the diplomats that "the Apostolié See is everyone's home" and that the Church is at home in the world. This sentiment of being at home in the world and familiar-