In his encyclical Pacem in Terris, Pope John XXIII emphasizes on the ordering of natural law. He acknowledges that certain ri

Pacem in Terris, by Pope John XXIII

In his encyclical Pacem in Terris, Pope John XXIII emphasizes on the ordering of natural law. He acknowledges that certain rights and duties are innate and available to anyone. These rights and duties are given by nature and then maintained by human instinct and reason. Reason that is God given and grants humans the ability to discover the order of nature, God created for the world. Pope John XXIII highlights this in the introduction of his encyclical, “But the Creator of the world has imprinted in man’s heart an order which his conscience reveals to him and enjoins him to obey.”(PT no.5). After humans use their conscience to learn what the order of nature God created is, they then must actively live by this order. According to Pope John XXIII, following the natural law derived from the God created order of nature, is not all that is needed to achieve peace. Humans are inherently social by nature, therefore they must maintain order in relationships emphasized by God’s teachings as well to achieve peace.

Pacem in Terris was a papal encyclical which depicts that individuals and states have their rights and obligations as they exist in the world. Pacem in Terris was one of the first documents in the Catholic world to provide teachings which mainly focused on human rights. There are a total of four chapters written in this encyclical – Chapter 1 entitled Order in the Universe, Chapter 2 entitled Relations Between Individuals and the Public Authority, Chapter 3 entitled Relations between States, Chapter 4 entitled Relationship of Men and of Political Communities with the World Community.

In Chapter 1, Order between Men, Pope John XXIII has conveyed a message that every human being has several rights and obligations as they exist in this unpredictable world. According to Pope John XXIII, it is true for every human being that “his is a nature, that is, endowed with intelligence and free will. As such he has rights and duties, which together flow as a direct consequence from his nature” (PT no. 9). It has taught us that we should be all equal and fair with one another. All must have the rights to moral and cultural values; rights to worship God according to one's conscience; rights to freely choose one’s state in life; rights to economic opportunities; rights of meeting and association;rights to emigrate and immigrate; and rights to take an active part in public life or politics. With all of these rights, we, people, must still be responsible as a person; we have the freedom to have our rights be respected, however, we should not forget our duties and responsibilities.

In connection to this, natural rights are bounded with several duties which means that they always come together. For instance, a person has the right to live and in order to live, one has the duty to preserve and take care of his or her own life. Through the natural rights, it gives rise to a corresponding duty in another man, which is a duty of recognizing and respecting that corresponding right. Moreover, for a society to be considered as well-ordered, creative and consonant with human dignity, it must be first based with nothing but the truth. Thus, truth will be the foundation of all; and that truth is our Almighty God. He is the first truth: the reason why people exist.

As for the next chapter, Relations between Individuals and the Public Authorities contains a passage wherein a well-ordered or prosperous society cannot be achieved without the help of the legal authorities. The individuals and public authorities must be well-connected and do all the means to maintain the orderliness and prosperous society, “the chief concern of civil authorities must therefore be to ensure that these rights are recognized, respected, co-ordinated, defended and promoted, and that each individual is enabled to perform his duties more easily (PT

no. 60).” It is stated that authority comes from God, however, it does not mean that men have no ability to choose the right ones. We, the people, have the power to choose who will be ruling our country. We have the right to vote because we are in a democratic form of government and it is our freedom to choose who will be the ruler. Nevertheless, it is the men’s duty to elect the right and deserving one.

Furthermore, men are necessary to provide their own contributions to the general welfare, as both individuals and intermediate groups. They must make use of their own interests, and be useful for the needs of others. They could offer goods and services. The nature of the common good is that each citizen should have their share or contribution in it. Their contribution in different ways because it depends on his tasks, merits, and circumstances. The only important aspect is that everyone has their own contribution to promote the common good in the interest of everyone. In connection to that, when personal rights and duties are assured, the common good is protected and well-preserved.

Moving forward, for the third chapter, Relations between States is all about the negotiation and bond to other states. It is the men’s belief that any presence of disputes must be resolved through good negotiation and agreements; declaration of war is not the solution. Thus, violence must be avoided as much as possible. The chapter’s main message is to have the boundaries diluted and nations should unite as one in the future, “we must bear in mind that of its very nature civil authority exists, not to confine men within the frontiers of their own nations, but primarily to protect the common good of the State, which certainly cannot be divorced from the common good of the entire human family (PT no. 98).” Love should be the universal dominant feeling between relationships of individuals and nations. Love should allow us to bond and clear all the conflicts that arose before. It was our beloved Pope John XXIII’s longing for every nation to be sincerely united; through that countless blessings from God can be delivered to us. Pope John XXIII declares “we are hopeful that, by establishing contact with one another and by a policy of negotiation, nations will come to a better recognition of the natural ties that bind them together as men (PT no. 129).” States should use negotiations instead of war because this social act reminds us of our common natural rights as men. Citizens will definitely feel safe and free if the union of all nations happens and the looming what if about war is replaced.

Now, for the last chapter, Relationship of Men and of Political Communities with the World Community, Pope John XXIII wants to deliver a message that no State can suitably pursue its own interest by their own will, just like other States that cannot develop itself as what it should be. National economies are moderately becoming a country that is interdependent. Nations are supposed to be lifting each other, for no one will ever succeed in destroying the unity of the human family. With the previous rulers of States, through the normal diplomatic channels, or by top-level meetings and discussions, and agreements, it seems like they have been able to make adequate provisions for the general common good. Due to not being sufficiently influential authority, it looks like all the nations of the world are experiencing task inequality in promoting the common good to all individuals.

In modern development, clear evidence of the farsightedness of the United Nations Organization (U.N) is presented by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration which affirms that the genuine recognition and complete observance of all the rights and freedoms is an objective that is supposed to be sought by all citizens and every nation. There has been a point wherein the declaration failed with some approvals in a few quarters. However, the document must be considered a step to be in the right path again. The intention of the fourth chapter is to deliver a message to the United Nations Organizations for them to progressively

adapt its structure and methodologies to the highest point of their tasks. “May the day be not long delayed when every human being can find in this organization an effective safeguard of his personal rights; those rights, that is, which derive directly from his dignity as a human person, and which are therefore universal, inviolable and inalienable” (PT no. 145), Pope John XXIII was in hope that every individual can find an effective safety of their personal rights in the said organization. This “safety net” for personal rights helps humans to achieve peace and harmony with one another.

To sum all of the chapters, Pacem in Terris is mainly all about the rights and obligations of individuals, states, and between the two (individuals and states). Its main point is that peace between everyone should always be based on truth, justice, love and freedom. It is not just written for the Catholics but for all men of good will. It clearly says that peace must always be on Earth. Pacem in Terris is an encyclical of freedom and peace. It indeed brings peace on the Earth just by reading it. It has brought englighten to my mind that peace can still be achieved in time. The purpose of Pope John XXIII’s encyclical was to help us in overcoming the violence in the whole world.

Upon reading the papal encyclical, Pacem in Terris, I suddenly felt like there is still some hope in having the nations to be united at some point. I have realized that what Pope John XXIII said was true. Love is all we need to clear all the boundaries that have been stopping every individual and nation from becoming as one. We need the support of each other to grow more as a nation. Rulers should be using their critical thinking in resolving conflicts and matters instead of pointing guns to each other. As the technology upgraded, the methods of resolving matters should be upgraded too, Violence is not always the answer. Speaking what’s on your mind and solving the issue calmly is a better and smart way of fixing matters. For a union of all nations to happen, citizens must also contribute to it. In addition, as for the introduction of the circular paper which is all about the rights of citizens, I strongly agree with his idea that everyone should be equal and fair to one another. Every individual has these rights right before they came to the world. Everyone’s right should be recognized and respected; It is part of the people’s freedom. And if everyone has their rights, it comes with several responsibilities that will help them to become a moral person. Everyone should be responsible with the actions they take. We must all remember that we are always liable for every consequence that may occur due to our actions. We have our rights but there’s always a limitation in everything. Lastly, in order to achieve a well-orderly and prosperous nation, everything must always be based on nothing but the truth, as our Almighty God is the first truth. Let us not turn a blind eye with the happenings in our surroundings, and remember the famous quotation, truth will set you free. Nothing but facts.

Overall, I am inclined to believe that the Pacem in Terris is an eye-opener for us to achieve peace in the world we are living in, not just for the Catholics but for everyone who is going to read it. Before I put an end to this essay, I just wanna leave a message for the people who are going to read this paper. You have your rights as a human being and you can exercise those as much as you want. As long as you’re not hurting or harming another individual, you are all good. You are born with those rights and you have the freedom to do what you want, however, you should know your restrictions and the consequences that you may face for being aggressive in taking some actions. Be a diligent citizen, you may not know but you are already being a factor of achieving the peace on our Earth.

Works Cited

O'Brien, David J., and Thomas A. Shannon. Renewing the Earth: Catholic Documents on Peace, Justice, and Liberation. Image Books, 1977.