Source: (2001) Paper presented at the US Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C., 5 February. RJ Online. Downloaded 12 January 2005.
It is hard to identify the precise starting point of modern Catholic peacemaking. Official reckoning assigns credit to Pope Benedict XV for his efforts to end the First World War. To Benedict,
we owe the famous phrase, ‘Never again war, war never again’, made famous by Pope Paul VIxe2x80x99s 1965 address before the United Nations, and repeated by Pope John Paul II on several occasions. But, Benedictxe2x80x99s overtures were dismissed by the great powers, partly because his proposals did not fit their interests, partly because they suspected his sympathies with Catholic Austria, and partly because the pope himself was still a prisoner of the Vatican with reduced political influence. Others would place the starting-point with Pope Pius XII. As a former diplomat, Pius took exceptional interest in international affairs, promoted Catholic internationalism, and played a significant role in Cold War politics. (extract)
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