APOSTOLIC VISIT OF HIS HOLINESS TO IRELAND ON THE OCCASION OF THE IX WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES [25-26 AUGUST 2018] MEETING WITH AUTHORITIES, CIVIL SOCIETY AND DIPLOMATIC CORPS, ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

[…] The Gospel reminds us that true peace is ultimately God’s gift; it flows from a
healed and reconciled heart and branches out to embrace the entire world. Yet it
also requires constant conversion on our part, as the source of those spiritual
resources needed to build a society of authentic solidarity, justice and service of the
common good. Without that spiritual foundation, our ideal of a global family of
nations risks becoming no more than another empty platitude. Can we say that the
goal of creating economic or financial prosperity leads of itself to a more just and
equitable social order? Or could it be that the growth of a materialistic “throwaway
culture” has in fact made us increasingly indifferent to the poor and to the most
defenceless members of our human family, including the unborn, deprived of the
very right to life? Perhaps the most disturbing challenges to our consciences in these
days is the massive refugee crisis, which will not go away, and whose solution calls
for a wisdom, a breadth of vision and a humanitarian concern that go far beyond
short-term political decisions. […]