ABSTRACT
World order is an often-overlooked component of the Catholic conception of peace. In the Catholic vision of peace, resistance to evil must be accompanied by active peacemaking, understood as the defense of human rights, the promotion of development, the advance of justice, the increase of solidarity, and the strengthening of world order. Pope John Paul noted that the breakdown of international legality led to the World War. The World Day of Peace message in 2002 was a continuation of this pattern, as it contended that forgiveness is a necessary condition of a just society. The Council defined the Church itself as a “sacrament or sign of intimate union with God and of the unity of all mankind” and declared that the promotion of unity is a primary service that the Church offers to the world.
