The Pope In America: New World Sayings of John Paul

Spiritual Values and Material Goods: Man lives at the same time both in the world of material values and in that of spiritual values. In this relationship it is the spiritual values that are preeminent, both on account of the nature of these values and also for reasons concerning the good of man. The pre-eminence of the values of the spirit defines the proper sense of earthly material goods and the way to use them. This pre-eminence is therefore at the basis of a just peace. It is also a contributing factor to ensuring that material development, technical development and the development of civilization are at the service of what constitutes man ... A critical analysis of our modern civilization shows that in the last hundred years it has contributed as never before to the development of material goods, but that it has also given rise to a series of attitudes in which sensitivity to the spiritual dimension of human existence is diminished, as a result of certain premises which reduce the meaning of human life chiefly to the many different material and economic factors—I mean to the demands of production, the market, consumption, the accumulation of riches or of the growing bureaucracy with which an attempt is made to regulate these very processes.

On World War II and Auschwitz: You will forgive me, ladies and gentlemen, for invoking this memory. But I would be untrue to the history of this century, I would be dishonest with regard to the great cause of man, which we all wish to serve, if I should keep silent, I who come from the country on whose living body Auschwitz was at one time constructed. But my purpose in evoking this memory is above all to show what painful experiences and sufferings by millions of people gave rise to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has been placed as the basic inspiration and cornerstone of the United Nations Organization. This declaration was paid for by millions of our brothers and sisters at the cost of their suffering and sacrifice, brought about by the brutalization that darkened and made insensitive the human consciences of the oppressors and of those who carried out a real genocide. This price cannot have been paid in vain!

On Arms and Children: Are the children to receive the arms race from us as a necessary inheritance? How are we to explain [to them] this unbridled race?

The ancients said Si vis pacem, para helium [if you seek peace, prepare for war]. But can our age still really believe that the breathtaking spiral of armaments is at the service of world peace?

On America's Duty: It will always remain one of the glorious achievements of this nation that, when people looked toward America, they received together with freedom also a chance for their own advancement. This tradition must be honored also today. The freedom that was gained must be ratified each day by the firm rejection of whatever wounds, weakens or dishonors human life ... It is then my wish that your sense of freedom may always go hand in hand with a profound sense of truth and honesty about yourselves and about the realities of your society. Past achievements can never be an acceptable substitute for present responsibilities toward the common good.