Human Rights, Social Justice, and Peacebuilding

Human Rights Violations and Social Injustice

Several factors contribute to social injustice and the violation of human rights:

1. Illiteracy, difficulty, or impossibility of accessing higher education, and the inability to participate in building one's nation. These are compounded by various forms of exploitation and social oppression, impacting economic, political, and religious identity, and discrimination based on racial differences.
2. The denial or limitation of human rights, such as the right to religious freedom, participation in building society, freedom of association, forming unions, or taking economic initiatives.

The Moral Dimension of Development

The real nature of the evil we face concerning the development of nations is a moral evil—the fruit of many sins that lead to "structures of sin."

Building Positive Peace

Positive peace emerges from a widespread effort to build a web of fair and caring relationships, from simple interpersonal interactions to the most complicated legal and political structures at national and international levels.

Everyday Gestures of Peace

Significant peace relies on small, everyday gestures. Each person can build peace within their responsibilities: in family, group, work, profession, village, city, culturally, economically, and in interpersonal relations in politics.

Reconciliation, Justice, and Solidarity

We must live with sentiments of reconciliation, in a spirit of justice, and with attitudes of solidarity and compassion towards the weak and needy in society.

War: An Assault on Human Dignity

War is an evil that does not correspond to the nature of man as a rational and sociable being. It is an assault on human rights and against God. Violence is incompatible with the meekness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and reconciliation.

Conversion and Commitment to Peace

Conversion to God necessarily includes our commitment to peace. This commitment contains moral demands: justice, love, truth, and mercy, especially towards the poor and oppressed.

Dynamism in Promoting Development

Some are known for their dynamism and have proven their skills in promoting the overall development of the poor and responding to emergencies. They know how to call attention to desperate situations, mobilizing public and private funding and organizing support in those places.

The Church's Role in Combating Suffering

Throughout the whole story of the church, from the deacons of the apostles until the present, men and women have fought against all suffering and misery in all its forms, in obedience to Christ.