"Pope Francis calls for an open dialogue on the meaning of these new technologies, endowed with disruptive possibilities and ambivalent effects," read a statement from the Vatican on Tuesday (Aug 8).

"He emphasises the need to be vigilant and to work so that a logic of violence and discrimination does not take root in the production and use of such devices at the expense of the most fragile and excluded: injustice and inequalities fuel conflicts and antagonisms," the statement continued.

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Peace involves the human person as a whole, the Pope says, so true peacemakers defend human life at every stage of its existence and promote the common good through their economic policies and activities.

Among the points the Pope makes are:

• In growing sectors of public opinion, "the ideologies of radical liberalism and technocracy are spreading the conviction that economic growth should be pursued even to the detriment of the state's social responsibilities and civil society's networks of solidarity".

One of the social rights and duties most under threat today is the right to work. A fresh understanding of work, as a fundamental good for the individual, for the family and for society, is required so that a policy of universal employment can be realised.

• At this stage in history, it is becoming increasingly important to promote the right to religious freedom "not only from the negative point of view, as freedom from — for example, obligations or limitations involving the freedom to choose one's religion — but also from the positive point of view, in its various expressions, as freedom for - for example, bearing witness to one's religion, making its teachings known, [and] engaging in activities in the educational, benevolent and charitable fields".

• Every offence against life, especially at its beginning, "causes irreparable damage to development, peace and the environment", so those who support abortion "will never be able to produce happiness or peace".

• There is also a need to "acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union".

Such principles, the Pope says, are inscribed in human nature itself and the Church's efforts to promote them are not therefore confessional in character but addressed to people of all religious affiliations.

Sources:

Catholic News Service

AsiaNews

Text of Pope's message

Image: Brainflash