Holy See, 2007

Mr. President, the Holy See takes this opportunity to

congratulate you on your election and looks forward to

working with you. At the same time, it is my pleasure

to greet the Secretary-General, His Excellency

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and wish him well at his first full

session of the General Assembly.

Less than a year ago, the General Assembly

approved the project to renovate these United Nations

Headquarters. Such material renovation seems an

appropriate reminder for States of the need to be

constantly renewed in the pursuit of the great

objectives that inspired the creation of the Organization

of the United Nations.

Sixty-two years ago, the United Nations was

established in order to save future generations from the

scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in fundamental human

rights and in the dignity and value of the human

person, to ensure respect for international law and to

promote social progress in universal freedom. Today,

once more, we must reaffirm those values in order to

deliver a forceful “no” to war and an equally forceful

“yes” to human dignity.

The Preamble of the Charter of the United

Nations, in its reference to the fundamental rights and

the dignity of the human person, uses the word “faith”

and links it to dialogue and cooperation among nations.

In this way it is affirmed that there is such a thing as

universal and transcendent truth about man and his

innate dignity, which is not only prior to all political

activity but determines it, so that no ideology of power

can eliminate it.

This innate dignity also determines the just

measure of national interests, which may never be

considered absolute, and in defence of which not only

is it never right to harm the legitimate interests of other

States, but there is an obligation at the same time to

help promote the common good of all people. Respect

for human dignity, therefore, is the deepest ethical

foundation in the search for peace and in the building

up of international relations corresponding to the

authentic needs and hopes of all the peoples of the

Earth. To forget or to accept partially and selectively

that principle is what lies at the origin of conflict,

environmental degradation and social and economic

injustice.

The terrorist attacks that marked the beginning of

the twenty-first century have given rise to pessimistic

visions of humanity based on a supposed clash of

civilizations. At times, people respond by returning to

extreme forms of nationalism, or by extending

justification for the use of force, or by further

relativizing values essentially tied to human dignity, in

particular the universal right to life and to religious

freedom.

Nowadays, the binomial “culture and religion” is

increasingly heard in this Hall. The Holy See welcomes

the initiative to hold a High-level Dialogue on

Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding and

Cooperation for Peace, which will take place here on

5 October under the leadership of the General

Assembly President. Indeed, dialogue among peoples

of different cultures and religions is not an option; it is

something that is indispensable for peace and for the

renewal of international life.

The Holy See hopes that the increased interest on

the part of non-religious bodies and institutions will

contribute to a greater respect for religious freedom

everywhere. Today, the right to religious freedom

continues to be disregarded, and even violated, in

certain places. Such violations have become a pretext

for various other forms of discrimination. If religious

leaders and believers expect States and societies to

respect them and acknowledge their religions to be true

instruments of peace, they themselves must respect

religious freedom; they must show that they pledge to

promote peace and shun violence; they must

demonstrate that religion is not and must not become a

pretext for conflict; and they must declare without

ambiguity that to promote violence or to wage war in

the name of religion is a blatant contradiction.

At the difficult crossroads at which humanity

finds itself today, the use of force no longer represents

a sustainable solution. It is important to help the

Conference on Disarmament find a way out of the

impasse in which it has been languishing for more than

a decade, to relieve the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation

of Nuclear Weapons from the severe strain to which it

has been increasingly subjected lately, and to give new

impetus to recognizing the value of the Comprehensive

Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. This year’s fiftieth

anniversary of the entry into force of the Statute of the

International Atomic Energy Agency is a most fitting

occasion to reaffirm our commitment to a peaceful

future through the non-proliferation of nuclear

weapons, the reduction and definitive dismantling of

existing nuclear weapons and the non-discriminatory,

peaceful and safe use of nuclear technology.

Moreover, this Organization must take further

steps on arms control in the field of conventional

weapons, including small arms and light weapons. The

Holy See associates itself with all appeals that

underline the importance of adopting a common

approach aimed at combating not only illegal traffic in

such weapons but also other connected activities, such

as terrorism, organized crime and trafficking in drugs

and in precious raw materials.

Another important area in which the Holy See

urges serious and effective action on the part of the

international community is that of cluster munitions. A

rapid response to this problem is becoming an ethical

imperative because of the high cost in human life, the

majority of the victims being civilians, especially

children.

This Organization has expressed its willingness

many times to devote more resources to conflict

prevention, particularly in the area of mediation. In this

regard, the Holy See has a particular interest in the

efforts of the Department of Political Affairs to create a

standing team of expert mediators as part of the

Secretary-General’s goal to make more effective use of

his good offices for conflict prevention. While the

multiplication of peace operations could mean that

there has been a failure to prevent conflict situations

from erupting into full-scale armed conflicts, it is also

a sign of the trust that the international community

places in the mechanisms of the United Nations and in

their cooperation with regional agencies. In this

context, we look forward to the day that peacekeeping

efforts in Darfur will finally be fully operational.

I wish to recall the contribution of the United

Nations towards a just and final solution to the

conflicts that for too long have caused bloodshed in the

Middle East. There is need for renewed commitment

on the part of all Member countries in the pacification

and reconstruction of long-suffering Iraq, a

reconstruction that is more moral and political than

economic. There is a need for renewed commitment in

the search for a solution through dialogue of the

conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, one which is

capable of recognizing the legitimate expectations of

each side.

Renewed commitment is needed in ensuring that

Lebanon will continue to be a free and independent

country, a democratic, multicultural and multi-

confessional society, equitable and respectful of all

people and of the various trends present in its midst,

like a common home open to others. This is

particularly necessary in the present crucial period

leading to an election of the new head of State.

Finally, I cannot but make reference to what is

happening in Myanmar, which these days occupies the

attention and concerns of the General Assembly and of

the whole international community. I wish to reiterate

the appeal made yesterday by Pope Benedict XVI:

through dialogue, good will and a spirit of humanity,

may a solution to the crisis be found quickly for the

good of the country and a better future for all its

inhabitants.

The creation two years ago of the Peacebuilding

Commission was based upon the conviction that it is

not enough to put an end to wars, but it is also

necessary to help reconstruct individual lives and the

social and institutional fabric. Now, the biggest test for

the international community is to give the

Peacebuilding Commission the mandate and the means

to prove on the ground that it can successfully manage

and support the difficult transition from war and

misery to peace and development.

Many of the problems that are attributed today

almost exclusively to cultural and religious differences

have their origin in economic and social injustice.

Freedom from want, illness, hunger and ignorance is a

necessary precondition for a serene dialogue of

civilizations. Forty years ago, in his encyclical

Populorum Progressio, Pope Paul VI stated that

development is the new name for peace. The Holy See

is concerned about the inability of rich countries to

offer the poorest countries, especially those in Africa,

financial and trade conditions capable of promoting

their sustainable development.

I salute the high-level event on climate change

held here on 24 September. The Holy See wishes to

underline once again the moral imperative incumbent

upon each and every one of us in safeguarding the

environment our fundamental common good.

We are approaching the sixtieth anniversary of

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, yet many

have never heard of it or been given the benefits of its

principles. Those rights are not based on the mere will

of human beings, or in the reality of the State or in

public powers, but rather are grounded in the objective

requirements of the nature bestowed on man.

The most important part of our work in that

context is to ensure that the right to life is respected

everywhere. That fundamental right must be protected

from conception until natural death. Therefore, we

must work to stop and reverse the culture of death

embraced by some social and legal structures that try to

make the suppression of life acceptable by disguising it

as a medical or social service. In that sense, the

abolition of the death penalty should also be seen as a

consequence of full respect for the right to life.

The legitimate quest for equality between men

and women has achieved positive results. Nevertheless,

inequalities in the exercise of basic human rights

unfortunately still persist in many places. That leads to

a breakdown in the social fabric and results in women’s

objectification and exploitation. The vindication of

equality needs to be accompanied by the awareness

that it goes hand in hand with and does not endanger,

much less contradict, the recognition of both the

difference and the complementarity between men and

women.

The Holy See looks forward to the

commemorative high-level meeting on the follow-up to

the outcome of the special session on children,

scheduled for 11 and 12 December 2007. It will be an

opportunity to refocus our commitments to children

and to redouble our efforts to promote their rights, end

violence against them and support the family.

Faith in human dignity demands that the problem

of migration be approached in the context of human

rights, family rights and children’s rights. While it is

essential to fight human trafficking and legitimate to

curb illegal migration, no one can justify measures

which put lives at risk or gravely offend human dignity

and human rights. The Holy See welcomes the

momentum created by the first meeting of the Global

Forum on Migration and Development, held in

Brussels in July, and looks forward to more progress in

that regard.

We must continue to ensure that peace and

security and development and human rights are

effectively combined and mutually reinforcing, in

order to show the international community that the

renovation of United Nations Headquarters is not only

physical, but also a renewal of the Organization’s

ideals and intentions. A renewal that reaches into the

deepest corners of the Organization is one in which all

nations of the world will rightly take pride.