DISCORSO DI GIOVANNI PAOLO II
AD UN GRUPPO DI DIPLOMATICI LATINOAMERICANI*

Venerdì, 7 luglio 1989

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am happy to have this meeting with you, officials of the Diplomatic Corps from Latin America, having concluded in Florence a course for specialization on International Relations, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy.

I am grateful for the kind words which one of you has addressed to me on behalf of everyone, and which also reflect the sentiments of so many of your countrymen who see in the Church and in her evangelizing mission a voice that defends peace, freedom, justice and the rights of the human person.

All the countries of Latin America which I have visited or which I hope to visit are represented here. The fact of having participated together in this course should encourage you to work in the spirit of solidarity to increase progressively the understanding and the necessary cooperation among the peoples and nations, so necessary in our day. In effect, your main commitment, as diplomats, is to work for dialogue, peace, coexistence and the integral development of nations. These are some objectives which require your full attention and the best of your energies.

On her part, the Church seeks to motivate human and spiritual growth, as well as moral progress, at all the levels of society, so that each person may be able to enjoy full dignity. Thus, the Church endeavours to bear witness to the transcendent meaning of human existence, without forgetting the necessary solidarity that unites all children of God in the construction of a more and more fraternal world.

At the conclusion of this pleasant meeting, I ask God to inspire and help you in your high and responsible task, so that you may be able to fulfil it with an open and generous spirit, with a determined attitude of service and deep moral conscience. I also entrust to him your persons and your families, together with the inhabitants of your countries, as I impart with pleasure my Apostolic Blessing.

*L'Osservatore Romano. Weekly Edition in English n.31 p.8.

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