August 20, 2020
Two months after the start of the war
The following is a broadcast of Pope John Paul III’s address of condemnation against several reports of persecutions against Equestrian born residents across Thera from Saint Peter’s Basilica.
Brothers and sisters in Christ. Citizens of Holy Thera. It troubles me to hear the disturbing reports of lynch mobs and riots, all of which are done with the intent of persecuting the Equestrian residents within our world, most of whom are citizens within our League of Nations and a few even are converts to the true faith. Hundreds across our world murdered, abused, humiliated and more, both young and old.
Brothers and sisters, this is intolerable and deplorable in the eyes of our Lord. It is not right; it is unjustified, and most importantly makes wrong everything we have bled and suffered for so long since the end of the Great War.
Harken yourselves to Christ’s Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5, verses forty three to forty eight: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thy enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven perfect.”
Brothers and sisters, it is easy to hate those who differ from us in visage and thoughts. It is easy to despise those who have wronged us. And many of you will say that it is a sign of weakness that we should show love for our enemies. Dearly beloved, I need not remind you all that it was the lack of love for our enemies that ignited the Great War to begin with, and it was this same sentiment that caused the war to last as long as it did. One Hundred Years of unforgiving, senseless hatred, and that was amongst ourselves.
I know many of you remember it well, both in and out of the blasted battlefields across our world. I remembered when I was but a young man in Copenhagen when the Swedish army occupied our city, pillaging our banks, museums and granaries. I remembered meeting the wisest man I’ve ever come to know. He was no great philosopher but a humble tailor. And as we sat together hiding from the Caroleans he said to me,” We must win with love, not with hate.” And I said to him, “How can you say that when the Swedes desecrate our homes?” And he said, “They all go away eventually for evil will only devour itself. But if love does not win, then they will return in a different form.” And I tell you my brothers and sisters in Christ, we have seen this form of evil return to us over and over again. Be it from the many foes we have repeatedly fought against or the enemies among us who have constantly terrorised us.
I understand that many would object, considering the conflicts we have endured. Rest assured, I have not forgotten that fact and understand it very clearly, for I was once a partisan of the destroyed Kingdom of Denmark fifty years ago. I have killed men, women and even children with hatred in my heart, and it has scarred me to this day. Therefore let no such acts of hatred repeat itself amongst you, especially those of us who are not trained to temper their most basic of impulses. We have trained soldiers for a reason and must therefore leave the duty to make war with the foe to them.
On that matter, bear in mind that these victims of such ungodly acts are of families of those who pledged allegiance to our world, and by extension all of us on Thera. They came into our lands in search of a new life, to answer for a greater cause, or in curiosity of what we are. It is therefore treacherous of us to return such gestures of trust with cruelty. We will only prove ourselves to be traitors to our most fundamental morals that formed the foundation of the new chapter for our nations.
Furthermore, with the war currently escalating as it is, we would offer them further ammunition to despise us and to prove all their fears of our race as hateful and vengeful should we continue such acts among our citizenry. We will only prove ourselves no different from the evils we fight and will therefore lose the moral high ground in this conflict. We must remain as The Beacon of Righteousness that God and the greater galaxy entrusts upon us. As we are made in the image of our creator, we must therefore bear the mantle of such responsibility. Bear in mind that the rest of the Galactic Community watches this conflict with vigilant, scrutinising eyes, and will take every opportunity to condemn us of any hypocritical actions among the citizenry.
Brothers and sisters, remember that Love is the greatest power in the world for it is the hardest thing to achieve. Mistake not Love from Like, for there is a difference. For Like is that of infatuation and the desires of the heart. Love is the sacrifice of one’s self for others that we care for. A husband who sacrifices his sweat, blood and labour to provide for his wife and children is love. A mother who sacrifices her dreams and ambitions to raise her children well is love. A friend who sacrificed his possessions to help his neighbour is love. A soldier who sacrificed his life for his country is love. A missionary who sacrificed everything he owns in this life to minister the word of the Lord to those who know him not, risking life and limb so long as his words are heard that they might be saved, that is love.
The nations of our enemies have made it known to us that they value harmony, love and friendship above all else. We desire such notions among ourselves, do we not? But what reward in Heaven is there to do the same as our enemies? Therefore we must show our foes that we are capable of loving beyond our own kin and brethren. Nothing shatters the will of an enemy than to show him compassion, mercy and love. When we kill in war, we must do so in duty to preserve our way of life. Anything beyond what is necessary only serves to continue the cycle of our worst impulses to sin. If we succeed to love, only then shall we achieve true peace, not just among the nations of our world but within our very souls. Only this way shall we prepare the way of Christ’s return; standing tall against sin and hatred with love.
Do not be overcome by evil; but overcome evil with good.