(May 19, 2011) “Educating young people in justice and peace” is the theme chosen by Pope Benedict XVI for the World Day of Peace 2012, said a communiqué on Thursday from Vatican’s Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace. The Catholic Church celebrates the World Day of Peace annually on the 1st of January. The theme of the 45th World Day of Peace for 2012 states that there is an urgent need in the world today to enhance the important role of new generations in the realization of the common good and in the affirmation of a just and peaceful order, where fundamental rights can be fully expressed and realized. The Papal message says it is the duty of the present generation to prepare the base and create conditions for future generations to act freely and responsibly for a new world. The Papal message affirms that the Church welcomes young people as it sees them as a sign of an ever promising springtime, and holds out Jesus to them as a model of love “who makes all things new.” Pope Benedict’s message calls on all those responsible for public policy, to work for the creation of institutions, laws and environments of life that are permeated by transcendent humanism and offer new generations the opportunities to fully realize themselves by giving them a good education, a decent job and other essentials, to build a civilization of fraternal love, directed towards a more profound awareness of truth, freedom, of love and of justice for all persons.
