Editorial, Fides 2/2025, p. 2. April 11, 2025
As this issue of the magazine appears, the liturgical year is nearing its climax, recounting the central events of salvation history: the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ. At the same time, recent weeks and months have seen greater and more intense upheaval in world history than in decades. Can anyone even say with certainty what will happen next and where each decision will ultimately lead?
One thing is clear: just a month ago, all eyes were on Ukraine and there was talk of the possibility of peace, but the turmoil that has recently shaken the foundations of the global economic system has definitively shifted attention elsewhere. When people are asking whether we are facing a recession or a depression, and preparing for economic blows that will immediately affect everyone’s wellbeing, the question of peace or war continuing hundreds of kilometres from home is no longer on everyone’s lips. “No one is talking about peace anymore – only about economic war,” many are saying today. The threat and fear for one’s own survival is “felt in the flesh.”
Yet the war goes on, and the markets swing up and down depending on rapidly changing decisions in the tightening grip of this economic war. Even if we do not fully understand every move, it is good to reflect in some way on them and their consequences.
A simple fact remains: when there is no peace, people die. And yet, every human life is more valuable than any economic gain. The right to live, freedom, wellbeing, and protection from violence should always be priorities, for these are – at least in my view – inalienable fundamental principles of all human activity. They should be respected, protected, and promoted by all nations and all political leaders.
It is also certain that the more the international order is challenged on other fronts, the less energy is left to keep the cause of peace in focus, and the more distant its realisation becomes. We cannot be content with such a situation.
Marko Tervaportti
A blessed celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ is risen. Truly He is risen!