JFK on Pope John XXIII’s Pacem in Terris

Speaking on April 20, 1963, at the Boston College Centennial, President John F. Kennedy addressed the issue of Pope John XXIII’s encyclical Pacem in Terris. “ I am much encouraged by a reading in this last week of the remarkable encyclical “Pacem in Terris.” In its penetrating analysis of today’s great problems, of social welfare and human rights, of disarmament, international order and peace, that document surely shows that on the basis of one great faith and its traditions there can be developed counsel on public affairs that is of value to all men and women of good will. As a Catholic, I am proud of it; and as an American, I have learned from it. It only adds to the impact of this message that it closely matches notable expressions of conviction and aspirations from churchmen of other faiths, as in recent documents from the World Council of Churches, and from outstanding world citizens with no ecclesiastical standing. We are learning to talk the language of progress and peace across the barriers of sect and creed.”