(Polski) Archbishop Gallagher: The purpose of every State is the common good

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The purpose of every State is the common good in the broadest sense. This includes promoting internal and external peace – said Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, during a solemn scientific session on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Poland and the Holy See.

“Every State has an intrinsic transcendent element: it depends and refers to something beyond itself. I am not speaking merely about the eschatological aspect and the temporary character of every public order, but the fact that a single State can never be self-sufficient and that «it is the role of the state to defend and promote the common good of civil society» (CCC, No. 1927)” – stressed Archbishop Gallagher.

The conference organized in the building of the old Library of the University of Warsaw at Krakowskie Przedmieście Street was attended by representatives of the Polish authorities, the Episcopate and the diplomatic corps, the Apostolic Nuncio to Poland Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, clergy, the world of science and culture.

On behalf of the Polish authorities, the significance of diplomatic relations with the Holy See was addressed by Prof. Jacek Czaputowicz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. Fr. prof. Stanisław Wilk from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin presented the mission of Archbishop Achille Ratti, the first apostolic nuncio in a reborn Poland.

In 1919, diplomatic relations between Poland and the Holy See were restored after over 120 years of interruption. Their official restoration was preceded by the arrival of the apostolic visitor to Warsaw a year before (May 29, 2018), the prelate Achille Ratti. In the autumn of 1918 – after Poland regained its independence – the visitor Ratti established the first diplomatic relations with the Polish government.

Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference