Pope John XXIII's final encyclical on the subject of peace, "Pacem in Terris," written after the Cuban missile crisis which he helped to resolve, is an extended treatment of the basic principles of political morality and particularly significant for its adoption--the first time by the Catholic Church--of the discourse of human rights. The fundamental moral objective of state power is stated as "the recognition, respect, safeguarding, and promotion of the rights of the human person," and only on this basis can peace be established. The encyclical is an important educational resource for forming peaceable and peacemaking persons.