Finding the Peace of Christmas Amid Turmoil

The following message is adapted from a greeting Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira gave to Supporters of the Brazilian TFP during the Christmas season of 1992.

As 2006 comes to a close, we should reflect on what has happened this year. As in all recent years, chaos reigned throughout the world. The risks, inherent to this chaos, became increasingly universal and dangerous. Understandably, an atmosphere of general apprehension continues to spread throughout the whole world.

It is therefore fitting to recall the angelic canticle heard by the shepherds on the first Christmas night: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will.”

The angels spoke of true peace, which is found in the Holy, Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church. In this sense, what does “peace” mean? Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches: “Peace is the tranquility of order.” Where there is order, there is true peace. Where there is merely a lack of open conflict, true peace does not exist, but merely a veiled and camouflaged disorder.

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