miniZibaldone

From the address to diplomatic corps [E]very authentic practice of religion cannot fail to promote peace.  Our recent celebration of Christmas reminds us of this: we contemplated the birth of a vulnerable child who is “named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (cf. Is 9:5).  The mystery of the Incarnation shows us the real face of God, for whom power does not mean force or destruction but love, and for whom justice is not vengeance but mercy.  It is in light of this that I wished to proclaim the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. [...]  Sadly, we recognize the numerous challenges presently facing families, “threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life”. [...]  An individualistic spirit is fertile soil for the growth of that kind of indifference towards our neighbours which leads to viewing them in p...