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Development, the New Name for Peace
76.
Extreme disparity between nations in economic, social and educational levels
provokes jealousy and discord, often putting peace in jeopardy. As We told the
Council Fathers on Our return from the United Nations: "We have to devote
our attention to the situation of those nations still striving to advance. What
We mean, to put it in clearer words, is that our charity toward the poor, of
whom there are countless numbers in the world, has to become more solicitous,
more effective, more generous." 64
When we fight
poverty and oppose the unfair conditions of the present, we are not just
promoting human well-being; we are also furthering man's spiritual and moral
development, and hence we are benefiting the whole human race. For peace is not
simply the absence of warfare, based on a precarious balance of power; it is
fashioned by efforts directed day after day toward the establishment of the
ordered universe willed by God, with a more perfect form of justice among men.
65
77.
Nations are the architects of their own development, and they must bear the
burden of this work; but they cannot accomplish it if they live in isolation
from others. Regional mutual aid agreements among the poorer nations,
broaderbased programs of support for these nations, major alliances between
nations to coordinate these activities—these are the road signs that point the
way to national development and world peace.
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