Pope Francis: justice and solidarity the bases for peace

Blessed Pope John XXIII's Cold War era Encyclical Pacem in Terris or "Peace on Earth," remains "extremely contemporary" and can act as a guide to peace-building in today's world. That's what Pope Francis told participants of a three day Vatican conference celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the 1963 Encyclical Letter. Experts from Catholic universities and institutions, and from the UN, the Council of Europe, the African Union, and the Organization of American States have gathered in Rome at the request of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace to discuss the relevance of Pacem in Terris in the promotion today of a more peaceful world. In his remarks Thursday, Pacem in Terris reminds us ...