The Catholic Church's unceasing appeal for a conversion of heart

5. Murder, wickedness, envy, pride and folly have their source in the human heart (cf. Mk 7,21), and it is at this point that the contribution of the Catholic Church, in its constant appeal for personal conversion, is most important and necessary (cf. CR, Part IV, n. 24). We must look first to the human heart; it is the heart that must be continually purified so that it is no longer governed by fear or the spirit of domination, but by openness to others, by fraternity and solidarity (cf. ibid.). This is a fundamental role of religions. Christians in particular have the responsibility to offer a teaching that stresses the dignity of every human being and the unity of the human race (cf. CR, Part III). If war or other terrible circumstances make others the enemy, the first and most radical Christian commandment is to love that enemy and to respond to evil with good. Efforts in recent years to impose greater and more effective penalties for racist actions and claims, both within States and internationally, especially through the International Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, have not succeeded in changing attitudes. These penal measures are necessary and important in order to punish those responsible for certain acts and as a collective demonstration of fundamental values, without which a society cannot hold together.