Holy See, 2014

In extending the

Holy See’s congratulations to Mr. Sam Kutesa on his

election to the presidency of the General Assembly

at its sixty-ninth session, I wish to convey the cordial

greetings of His Holiness Pope Francis to him and to all

participating delegations. He assures the President of his

closeness and prayers for the Assembly’s work during

this session with the hope that it will be carried out in

an atmosphere of productive collaboration, working for

a more fraternal and united world by identifying ways

to resolve the serious problems that beset the whole

human family today.

In continuity with his predecessors, Pope Francis

recently reiterated the Holy See’s esteem and

appreciation for the United Nations as an indispensable

means of building an authentic family of peoples. The

Holy See values the efforts of this institution to ensure

world peace, respect for human dignity, the protection

of persons, especially the poorest and most vulnerable,

and harmonious economic and social development.

Although mindful of the human person’s gifts and

abilities, Pope Francis observes that today there is the

danger of widespread indifference. To the extent that

indifference concerns the field of politics, it also affects

economic and social sectors, since an important part

of humanity does not share in the benefits of progress

and is in fact relegated to the status of second-class

citizens. At times, such apathy is synonymous with

irresponsibility.

I also recall the words of His Holiness to the

Secretary-General at the beginning of August: “It is with

a heavy and anguished heart that I have been following

the dramatic events in northern Iraq”. He was thinking

of the tears, the suffering and the heartfelt cries of

despair of Christians and other religious minorities of

that beloved land. In that same letter the Pope renewed

his urgent appeal to the international community to

take action to end the humanitarian tragedy now under

way. He further encouraged all the competent organs

of the United Nations, in particular those responsible

for security, peace, humanitarian law and assistance to

refugees, to continue their efforts in accordance with

the Preamble and relevant Articles of the Charter of the

United Nations.

Today, I am compelled to repeat the heartfelt appeal

of His Holiness and to propose to the General Assembly

and to the other competent organs of the United Nations

that they deepen their understanding of the difficult

and complex time in which we are now living.

With the dramatic situation in northern Iraq

and some parts of Syria, we are seeing a totally new

phenomenon — the existence of a terrorist organization

that threatens all States, vowing to dissolve them

and to replace them with a pseudo-religious world

government. Unfortunately, as the Holy Father recently

said, even today there are those who would presume to

wield power by coercing consciences and taking lives,

persecuting and murdering in the name of God. Those

actions bring injury to entire ethnic groups, populations

and ancient cultures. It must be remembered that

such violence is borne out of a disregard for God and

falsifies religion itself, since religion aims instead at

reconciling men and women with God, at illuminating

and purifying consciences and at making it clear that

each human being is the image of the Creator.

In a world of global communications, that new

phenomenon has found followers in numerous places

and has succeeded in attracting from around the

world young people who are often disillusioned by

widespread indifference and a dearth of values in

wealthier societies. That challenge, in all its tragic

aspects, should compel the international community

to promote a unified response, based on solid juridical

criteria and a collective willingness to cooperate for the

common good.

To that end, the Holy See considers it useful to focus

attention on two major areas. The first is to address

the cultural and political origins of contemporary

challenges, acknowledging the need for innovative

strategies to confront those international problems in

which cultural factors play a fundamental role. The

second area for consideration is further study of the

effectiveness of international law today, namely, its

successful implementation by those mechanisms used

by the United Nations to prevent war, stop aggressors,

protect populations and help victims.

Following the attacks of 9/11, when the world woke

up to the reality of a new form of terrorism, some media

and think tanks oversimplified the tragic moment by

interpreting all subsequent and problematic situations

in terms of a clash of civilizations. That view ignored

long-standing and profound experiences of good

relations between cultures, ethnic groups and religions

and interpreted other complex situations through that

lens, situations such as the Middle East question and

civil conflicts occurring elsewhere.

What, then, are the paths open to us?

First and foremost, there is the path of promoting

dialogue and understanding among cultures, which is

implicit in the Preamble and Article 1 of the Charter of

the United Nations. That path must become an ever more

explicit objective of the international community and of

Governments if we are truly committed to peace in the

world. The natural growth and enrichment of culture

is the fruit of all components of civil society working

together. International organizations and States have

the task of promoting and supporting, in a decisive

way and with the necessary financial means, those

initiatives and movements that promote dialogue and

understanding among cultures, religions and peoples.

Peace, after all, is not the fruit of a balance of powers,

but rather the result of justice at every level and, most

importantly, is the shared responsibility of individuals,

civil institutions and Governments.

And yet, we do not face the challenges of terrorism

and violence with cultural openness alone. The

important path of international law is also available

to us. The situation today requires a more incisive

understanding of international law, with particular

attention to the responsibility to protect. One of the

characteristics of the recent terrorist phenomenon is

that it disregards the existence of the State and, in fact,

the entire international order. Terrorism aims not only

to bring change to Governments, to damage economic

structures or simply to commit common crimes, it

seeks also to directly control areas within one or more

States and to impose its own laws, which are distinct

and opposed to those of the sovereign State. It also

undermines and rejects all existing juridical systems,

in an attempt to impose dominion over consciences and

complete control over persons.

The global nature of this phenomenon, which

knows no borders, is precisely why the framework of

international law offers the only viable way of dealing

with this urgent challenge. This reality requires a

renewed United Nations that undertakes to foster and

preserve peace.

Given that the new forms of terrorism are

transnational, they no longer fall under the competence

of the security forces of any one State. The territories

of several States are involved. Therefore, the combined

forces of a number of nations will be required to

guarantee the defence of unarmed citizens. Since

there is no juridical norm justifying unilateral policing

actions beyond one’s own borders, there is no doubt that

that area of competence lies with the Security Council.

My delegation wishes to recall that it is both licit and

urgent to stop aggression through multilateral action

and a proportionate use of force. As the representative

body of a worldwide religious community that embraces

different nations, cultures and ethnicities, the Holy See

earnestly hopes that the international community will

assume responsibility in considering the best means to

stop all aggression and prevent the perpetration of new

and even graver injustices.

It is paramount that there be a unity of action for

the common good, while avoiding the crossfire of

vetoes. As His Holiness wrote to the Secretary-General

on 9 August,

“the most basic understanding of human dignity

compels the international community, particularly

through the norms and mechanisms of international

law, to do all that it can to stop and to prevent

further systematic violence against ethnic and

religious minorities”.

While the concept of the responsibility to protect is

implicit in the constitutional principles of the Charter of

the United Nations and of humanitarian law, it does not

specifically favour a recourse to arms; it asserts, rather,

the responsibility of the entire international community,

in a spirit of solidarity, to confront heinous crimes such

as genocide, ethnic cleansing and religiously motivated

persecution. Today, I cannot fail to mention the many

Christians and ethnic minorities who in recent months

have endured atrocious persecution and suffering in

Iraq and Syria.

In its resolution 68/6, the General Assembly

decided that it would at the present session discuss the

post-2015 development agenda, which would then be

formally adopted at its seventieth session, in September

2015. The President aptly chose the main theme of the

present session to be “Delivering on and implementing

a transformative post-2015 development agenda”. In

a communication to the recent meeting of the Chief

Executives of the agencies, funds and programmes of

the United Nations, His Holiness requested that future

objectives for sustainable development be formulated

“with generosity and courage, so that they can have

a real impact on the structural causes of poverty and

hunger, attain more substantial results in protecting

the environment, ensure dignified and productive

labour for all and provide appropriate protection

for the family, which is an essential element

in sustainable human and social development.

Specifically, this involves challenging all forms of

injustice and resisting the economy of exclusion,

the throwaway culture and the culture of death”.

In that regard, the Holy See welcomes the

17 sustainable development goals proposed by the

Open Working Group of the General Assembly on

Sustainable Development Goals, which seek to address

the structural causes of poverty by promoting dignified

labour for everyone. Equally, the Holy See appreciates

that the goals and targets do not, for the most part,

echo wealthy populations’ fears regarding population

growth in poorer countries. It also welcomes the fact

that the goals and targets do not impose on poorer States

lifestyles that are typically associated with advanced

economies and which tend to show a disregard for

human dignity.

As stated earlier, the responsibility to protect is

relevant to cases of extreme aggressions against human

rights and cases of serious contempt of humanitarian

law or grave natural catastrophes. In a similar way,

there is a need to make legal provision for protecting

people against other forms of aggression that are less

evident but just as serious and real. For example, a

financial system governed only by speculation and the

maximization of profits, or one in which individual

persons are regarded as disposable items in a culture of

waste, could be tantamount, in certain circumstances, to

an offence against human dignity. It follows, therefore,

that the United Nations and its Member States have an

urgent and grave responsibility for the poor and the

excluded, mindful always that social and economic

justice is an essential condition for peace.

Each day of the sixty-ninth session of the General

Assembly, and indeed of its next four sessions, until

November 2018, will bear the sad and painful memory

of the futile and inhumane tragedy of the First World

War — a senseless slaughter, as Pope Benedict XV

referred to it, with its millions of victims and untold

destruction. Marking the centenary of the start of the

conflict, His Holiness Pope Francis expressed his

desire that

“the mistakes of the past are not repeated, that the

lessons of history are acknowledged, and that the

cause of peace may always prevail through patient

and courageous dialogue”.

In making my own the sentiments of the Holy

Father, I fervently hope that they may be shared by all

present here. I offer to all members of the Assembly my

best wishes in their work. I trust that this session will

spare no effort to put to an end the clamour of weapons

that marks existing conflicts and that it will continue

to foster the development of the entire human race, in

particular the poorest among us.