[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 2, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E120-E121]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  POPE JOHN PAUL II REJOICES AT CROSS-STRAIT TALKS BETWEEN TAIWAN AND 
                                 CHINA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 2, 1999

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, on January 11, 1999, Pope John Paul II spoke 
to all the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See and gave his 
evaluation of world affairs. The pontiff specifically mentioned that 
the Holy See ``should rejoice at the efforts of the great people of 
China, in a dialogue undertaken with determination and involving the 
peoples of both sides of the Strait. The international community and 
the Holy See in particular--follows the felicitous development with 
great interest, in the hope of significant progress which, without any 
doubt, would be beneficial to the whole world.''
  Indeed, I myself am very happy to see that Taiwan has done its very 
best in attempting to achieve the goal of peace through a mutual 
understanding with the Chinese mainland. In his 1996 inaugural speech, 
President Lee Teng-hui of the Republic of China made it very clear that 
he is a man of peace and that he would like to embark on a journey of 
peace to the mainland. On numerous occasions President Lee Teng-hui 
said he would like to see continuing peace and stability in the Taiwan 
strait. Moreover he fervently prayed that Taiwan and the Chinese 
mainland agree under the principles of democracy, freedom, and 
equitable distribution of wealth. In fact, during his January 18, 1999 
meeting with some of the members of the International Relations 
Committee, President Lee reiterated his desire to see rapid progress in 
the cross-strait relations and extended his welcome to Mr. Wang Daohan, 
chairman of the Peking-based Association for Relations Across the 
Taiwan Strait, to visit Taiwan this year.
  Mr. Speaker, President Lee Teng-hui ought to be commended for 
maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and for re-
starting the cross-strait dialogue between Taiwan and the Chinese 
mainland. In addition, the pope's speech to the ambassadors on January 
11, 1999, especially his reference to Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, 
was both timely and insightful, fully demonstrating the pontiff's 
concern for world peace. I submit the text to be printed in the Record.


       Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am deeply 
     grateful for the good wishes offered to me on your behalf by 
     your Dean, the Ambassador of the Republic of San Marino, 
     Signor Giovanni Galassi, at the beginning of this final year 
     before the year 2000. They join the many expressions of 
     affection which were sent to me by the Authorities of your 
     countries and by your fellow citizens on the occasion of the 
     twentieth anniversary of my Pontificate and for the New Year. 
     To all, I wish to express once again my profound gratitude.
       This yearly ceremony is like a family gathering and for 
     this reason it is particularly dear to me. First, because 
     through you almost all the nations of the world are made 
     present here with their achievements and their hopes, but 
     also with their difficulties. Secondly, because such a 
     meeting affords me the pleasant opportunity to express my 
     fervent and prayerful good wishes for you, your families and 
     your fellow citizens. I ask God to grant each one health, 
     prosperity and peace. You know that you can count on me and 
     my collaborators whenever it is a matter of supporting what 
     each country, with its best efforts, undertakes for the 
     spiritual, moral and cultural uplifting of its citizens and 
     for the advancement of all that contributes to good relations 
     between peoples in justice and peace.
       The family of nations, which has recently taken part in the 
     joy of Christmas and with one accord has welcomed the New 
     Year, has without doubt some grounds for rejoicing.
       In Europe, I think especially of Ireland where the 
     agreement signed on Good Friday last has established the 
     basis for a much awaited peace, which must be founded on a 
     stable social life, on mutual trust and the principle of 
     equality before the law for all.
       Another reason for satisfaction for all of us is the peace 
     process in Spain which for the first time is enabling the 
     peoples of the Basque territories to see the spectre of blind 
     violence retreat and to think seriously of a process of 
     normalization.
       The transition to one currency and the enlargement towards 
     the East will no doubt give Europe the possibility to become 
     more and more a community with a common destiny, a true 
     ``European community''--this is in any case our dearest 
     wish. This obviously presupposes that the member countries 
     are able to reconcile their history with the same common 
     project, so that they may all see themselves as equal 
     partners, concerned only for the common good. The 
     spiritual families which have made such a great 
     contribution to the civilization of this continent--I am 
     thinking especially of Christianity--have a role which 
     seems to me to be more and more decisive. In the face of 
     social problems which keep significant sectors of the 
     population in poverty, and of social inequalities which 
     give rise to chronic instability, and before the younger 
     generations seeking points of reference in an often 
     chaotic world, it is important that the Churches should be 
     able to proclaim the tenderness of God and the call to 
     fraternity which the recent feast of Christmas has caused 
     to shine out once again for all humanity.
       I would like to draw to your attention, ladies and 
     gentlemen, further grounds for satisfaction in relation to 
     the American Continent. I am referring to the agreement 
     reached in Brasilia on 26 October last between Ecuador and 
     Peru. Thanks to the persevering efforts of the international 
     community--especially on the part of the guarantor 
     countries--two sister nations had the courage to renounce 
     violence, to accept a compromise and to resolve their 
     differences in a peaceful way. This is an example for so many 
     other nations still bogged down in divisions and 
     disagreements. I am firmly convinced that these two nations, 
     thanks particularly to the Christian faith which unites them, 
     will be able to meet the great challenge of fraternity and 
     peace, and thus turn a painful page of their history, which 
     in fact dates from the very beginning of their existence as 
     independent states. I address an urgent and paternal call to 
     the Catholics of Ecuador and Peru to work with conviction for 
     reconciliation through prayer and action, and thus to 
     contribute to ensuring that the peace brought by the treaties 
     enters everyone's heart.
       We should also rejoice at the efforts of the great people 
     of China, in a dialogue undertaken with determination and 
     involving the people on both sides of the Strait. The 
     international community--and the Holy See in particular--
     follows this felicitous development with great interest, in 
     the hope of significant progress which, without any doubt, 
     would be beneficial to the whole world.
       However, the culture of peace is far from being universal, 
     as the centres of persistent dissension testify.
       Not far from us, the Balkan region  continues to experience 
     a time of great instability. We cannot yet speak of 
     normalization in Bosnia-Hercegovina where the effects of the 
     war are still being felt in inter-ethnic relations, where 
     half the population remains displaced and where social 
     tensions dangerously persist. Again recently, Kosovo has been 
     the scene of deadly confrontations for both ethnic and 
     political reasons which have prevented a peaceful dialogue 
     between the parties and hindered any economic development. 
     Everything must be done to help the people of Kosovo and the 
     Serbs to meet around a table in order to defuse without delay 
     the armed suspicion which paralyses and kills. Albania and 
     Macedonia would be the first to benefit, since in the Balkans 
     all things are closely related. Many other countries, large 
     and small, in Central and Eastern Europe are also at the 
     mercy of political and social instability; they are 
     struggling along the road to democracy and have not yet 
     succeeded in living in a market economy capable of giving 
     everyone a legitimate share of well-being and growth.
       The peace process undertaken in the Middle East continues 
     to make uneven progress and has not yet brought the local 
     peoples the hope and well-being which they have the right to 
     enjoy. It is not possible to keep people indefinitely between 
     war and peace, without the risk of dangerously increasing 
     tensions and violence. It is not reasonable to put off until 
     later the question of the status of the Holy City of 
     Jerusalem, to which the followers of the three monotheist 
     religions turn their gaze. The parties concerned should face 
     these problems with a keen sense of their responsibilities. 
     The recent crisis in Iraq has shown once more that war does 
     not solve problems. It complicates them, and

[[Page E121]]

     leaves the civilian population to bear the tragic 
     consequences. Only honest dialogue, a real concern for the 
     good of people and respect for the international order can 
     lead to solutions befitting a region where our religious 
     traditions are rooted. If violence is often contagious, peace 
     can be so too, and I am sure that a stable Middle East would 
     contribute effectively to restoring hope to many peoples. I 
     am thinking for example of the suffering peoples of Algeria 
     and of the island of Cyprus, where the situation is still in 
     deadlock.
       Some months ago Sri Lanka celebrated the fiftieth 
     anniversary of independence, but unfortunately it is still 
     today divided by ethnic struggles which have delayed the 
     opening of serious negotiations, which alone are the only 
     way to peace.
       Africa remains a continent at risk. Of its fifty-three 
     States, seventeen are experiencing military conflicts, either 
     internally or with other States. I am thinking in particular 
     of Sudan where, in addition a cruel war, a terrible human 
     tragedy is unfolding; Eritrea and Ethiopia which are once 
     again in dispute; and Sierra Leone, where the people are 
     still the victims of merciless struggles. On this great 
     continent there are up to eight million refugees and 
     displaced persons practically abandoned to their fate. The 
     countries of the Great Lakes region still bear open wounds 
     resulting from the excesses of ethnocentrism, and they are 
     struggling amid poverty and insecurity; this is also the case 
     in Rwanda and Burundi, where an embargo is further 
     aggravating the situation. The Democratic Republic of Congo 
     still has far to go in working out its transition and 
     experiencing the stability to which its people legitimately 
     aspire, as the massacres which recently occurred at the very 
     beginning of the year near the town of Uvira testify. Angola 
     remains in search of a peace which cannot be found and in 
     these days is experiencing a development which causes great 
     concern and which has not spared the Catholic Church. The 
     reports regularly coming to me from these tormented regions 
     confirm my conviction that war is always destructive of our 
     humanity, and that peace is undoubtedly the pre-condition for 
     human rights. To all these peoples, who often send me pleas 
     for help, I wish to give the assurance that I am close to 
     them. May they know also that the Holy See is sparing no 
     effort to bring about an end to their sufferings and to find 
     equitable solutions to the existing serious problems, on both 
     the political and humanitarian levels.
       The culture of peace is still being thwarted by the 
     legitimation and use of armed force for political purposes. 
     The nuclear tests recently carried out in Asia and the 
     efforts of other countries quietly working on establishing 
     their nuclear power could very well lead to a gradual spread 
     of nuclear arms and consequently to a massive re-armament 
     which would greatly hinder the praiseworthy efforts being 
     made on behalf of peace. This would frustrate all policies 
     aimed at preventing conflicts.
       There is also the production of less costly weaponry, like 
     anti-personnel mines, happily outlawed by the Ottawa 
     Convention of December 1997 (which the Holy See hastened to 
     ratify last year), and small-calibre arms, to which, I 
     believe, political leaders should pay greater attention in 
     order to control their deadly effects. Regional conflicts, in 
     which children are frequently recruited for combat, 
     indoctrinated and incited to kill, call for a serious 
     examination of conscience and a concerted response.
       Finally, the risks to peace arising from social 
     inequalities and artificial economic growth cannot be 
     underestimated. The financial crisis which has shaken Asia 
     has shown the extent to which economic security is comparable 
     to political and military security, inasmuch as it calls for 
     openness, concerted action and respect for specific ethical 
     principles.
       In the face of these problems which are familiar to you, 
     Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to share with you a conviction 
     which I firmly hold: during this final year before the year 
     2000 an awakening of consciences is essential.
       Never before have the members of the international 
     community had at their disposal a body of such precise and 
     complete norms and conventions. What is lacking is the will 
     to respect and apply them. I pointed this out in my Message 
     of 1 January, in speaking of human rights: ``When the 
     violation of any fundamental human right is accepted without 
     reaction, all other rights are placed at risk'' (No. 12). It 
     seems to me that this truth needs to be seen in relation to 
     all juridic norms. International law cannot be the law of the 
     stronger, nor that of a simple majority of States, nor even 
     that of an international organization. It must be the law 
     which is in conformity with the principles of the natural law 
     and of the moral law, which are always binding upon parties 
     in conflict and in the various questions in dispute.
       The Catholic Church, as also communities of believers in 
     general, will always be on the side of those who strive to 
     make the supreme good of law prevail over all other 
     considerations. It is likewise necessary for believers to be 
     able to make themselves heard and to take part in public 
     dialogue in the societies of which they are full members. 
     This leads me to share with you, as the official 
     representatives of your States, my painful concern about the 
     all too numerous violations of religious freedom in today's 
     world.
       Just recently, for example, in Asia, episodes of violence 
     have caused tragic suffering to the Catholic community: 
     churches have been destroyed, religious personnel have 
     been mistreated and even murdered. Other regrettable 
     events could be mentioned in several African countries. In 
     other regions, where Islam is the majority religion, one 
     still has to deplore the grave forms of discrimination of 
     which the followers of other religions are victims. There 
     is even one country where Christian worship is totally 
     forbidden and where possession of a Bible is a crime 
     punishable by law. This is all the more distressing 
     because, in many cases, Christians have made a great 
     contribution to the development of these countries, 
     especially in the area of education and health care. In 
     certain countries in Western Europe, one notes an equally 
     disturbing development which, under the influence of a 
     false idea of the principle of separation between the 
     State and the Churches or as a result of a deep-seated 
     agnosticism, tends to confine the Churches within the 
     religious sphere alone and finds it difficult to accept 
     public statements from them. Finally, some countries of 
     Central and Eastern Europe have great difficulty in 
     acknowledging the religious pluralism proper to democratic 
     societies and attempt to limit, by means of a restrictive 
     and petty bureaucratic practice, the freedom of conscience 
     and of religion which their Constitutions solemnly 
     proclaim.
       As I recall religious persecutions either long past or more 
     recent, I believe that the time has come, at the end of this 
     century, to ensure that everywhere in the world the right 
     conditions for effective freedom of religion are guaranteed. 
     This requires, on the one hand, that each believer should 
     recognize in others something of the universal love which God 
     has for his creatures. It requires, on the other hand, that 
     the public authorities also--called by vocation to think in 
     universal terms--should come to accept the religious 
     dimension of their fellow citizens along with its necessary 
     community expression. In order to bring this about, we have 
     before us not only the lessons of history, but also certain 
     valuable juridical instruments which only need to be applied. 
     In a certain sense, the future of societies depends on the 
     inescapable relationship between God and the Earthly City, 
     for, as I stated during my visit to the seat of the European 
     Parliament on 11 October 1988: ``Wherever man no longer 
     relies on the great reality that transcends him, he risks 
     handing himself over to the uncontrollable power of the 
     arbitrary and to pseudo-absolutes that destroy him'' (No. 
     10).
       These are some of the thoughts which have come to my mind 
     and heart as I look at the world of this century which is 
     coming to a close. If God in sending his Son among us took 
     such interest in mankind, let us act in such a way as to 
     correspond to such great love! He, the Father of all, has 
     made with each of us a covenant which nothing can break. By 
     telling us and by showing us that he loves us, he also gives 
     us the hope that we can live in peace; and it is true that 
     only the person who knows love can love in return. It is good 
     that all people should discover this Love which precedes them 
     and awaits them. Such is my dearest wish, for each of you and 
     for all the peoples of the earth!

     

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