Pontifical Council For Justice and Peace - Objectives and Mandate

Objectives and Mandate

Pastor Bonus defined the objectives and mandate of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in the following terms: "The Council will promote justice and peace in the world, in the light of the Gospel and of the social teaching of the Church (art. 142). § 1. It will deepen the social doctrine of the Church and attempt to make it widely known and applied, both by individuals and communities, especially as regards relations between workers and employers. These relations must be increasingly marked by the spirit of the Gospel. § 2. It will assemble and evaluate various types of information and the results of research on justice and peace, the development of peoples and the violations of human rights. When appropriate, it will inform Episcopal bodies of the conclusions drawn. It will foster relations with international Catholic organizations and with other bodies, be they Catholic or not, that are sincerely committed to the promotion of the values of justice and peace in the world. § 3. It will heighten awareness of the need to promote peace, above all on the occasion of the World Day of Peace (art. 143). It will maintain close relations with the Secretariat of State, especially when it deals publicly with problems of justice and peace in its documents or declarations (art. 144)".