The complete text of Pope Benedict XVIs message for the 2006 World Day of Peace, to be celebrated January 1.

Somewhere this cry of, "Do you want to be my friend?" touched me. I began visiting asylums, hospitals, different institutions, families, and I discovered an immense world of pain which I never, never could have imagined.

Perhaps our present disjunction between just-war and pacifist approaches to this issue reflects uncritically the sort of extrinsicist theology of nature and grace characteristic of the modern period.

The newly published Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church dedicates one of its first chapters to the institution of the family, described as "the vital cell of society."

Catholic social teaching often mentions the importance of the human person, or concepts such as the common good, but without going into much detail as to what they mean.

Many still keep alive the spiritual message of Christmas in their families, but the end of holidays, and a return to work for many, should not mean forgetting about religion. The recently published Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church dedicates a chapter to human work, and seeks to explain its deeper meaning.

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church dedicates a special chapter to look at economic activity in general. Like other chapters, it starts with an overview of some biblical principles.

The Church's interest in the relations between nations stems from the universality of God's action in the world. Thus starts the chapter of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church dedicated to international matters.

The new Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church dedicates an entire chapter to environmental issues, in recognition of the subject's increasing importance.

The last section of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church explains the pastoral and ecclesial dimensions of the teaching in this area.