Interview with Cardinal Bertone

Amy Welborn links to this thread over at the Papa Ratzinger Forum. Scroll down on page 10 for the translation of the interview, which was originally published in Il Giornale.

Some excerpts:

What then is the task of the Holy See on the international scene?
In the past century, the Popes have called on every person to start with the idea of God in order to promote peaceful and just coexistence in every region of the earth. They spoke not to defend the interests of the Church, but to defend justice and the dignity of man, of all men, especially the weakest among them and those who are forced to undergo injustices and intolerable inequalities.

From this point of view, peace cannot simply mean the absence of armed conflict but the result of order imposed on human society by God himself.
...
Benedict XVI seemed to wish to divest the Papacy of some political and diplomatic involvements, underlining the pastoral aspect of his ministry. What reflection will this policy have on the Secretariat of State?
The mission of the Church, as the Pope often repeats, is singular and it has always been so: to tell the world that beauty, happiness, the answer to man's deepest questions, is not an idea, a philosophy or a series of teachings, but one person, Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for our salvation.

And it is only because of and in the light of this mission that the Holy See seeks to act in favor of peace and justice in every corner of the world, using all means available in order to reach this noble objective.

What then is the task of the Holy See on the international scene?
In the past century, the Popes have called on every person to start with the idea of God in order to promote peaceful and just coexistence in every region of the earth. They spoke not to defend the interests of the Church, but to defend justice and the dignity of man, of all men, especially the weakest among them and those who are forced to undergo injustices and intolerable inequalities.

From this point of view, peace cannot simply mean the absence of armed conflict but the result of order imposed on human society by God himself.

No true peace without conversion, and I believe Cardinal Bertone understands that it is the primary mission of the Church to evangelize and bring about the conversion of others.