YouSaid · the spoken record

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher

lines on the record: 115
first: 2015-09-24
most recent: 2023-09-24
sittings or episodes: 4
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“which make enemies of not only individuals but entire peoples, and whose negative consequences reverberate for generations. With the founding of the United Nations, it seemed that the world had learned, after two terrible world wars, to move towards a more stable peace, moving towards becoming a literal family of nations. However, it seems that we are backlogging history. In order to make peace a reality, we must move away from the logic of the legitimacy of war. Peace is possible if it is truly willed; and if peace is possible, it is a duty. It is the duty of each one present in this Hall, because it is only in the research of peace and in the peaceful living between States that we can become truly united nations in a single human family.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“I renew my appeal to the international community to ensure that Jerusalem is not forgotten, so that the project of a holy city as a place of peace for all and of all. with a special internationally guaranteed status, is not abandoned. Today’s globalized world has brought all of us closer together, yet it has not made us any more fraternal. Indeed, we are suffering from a famine of fraternity. New ideologies, characterized by widespread individualism, egocentrism and materialistic consumerism, weaken social bonds, fuelling the throwaway mentality that leads to contempt for and abandonment of the weakest and those considered useless. In that way. human coexistence increasingly tends to resemble a mere do ut des that is both pragmatic and selfish. Yet the worst effect of this famine of fraternity is armed conflict and war.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“The Holy See urges dialogue and negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, with the support of the international cooperation, which will favour a sustainable agreement as soon as possible, thus ending the humanitarian crisis and resolving the dramatic situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. In addition. I express my condolences to the families of the victims of the explosion at a petrol station near the city of Stepanakert. The Holy See expresses serious concern about what is happening in Jerusalem, and in particular the attacks against the Christian communities. Those episodes are not simply undermining the coexistence between the different communities, but are threatening the very identity of the city of Jerusalem, which some cannot conceive as a meeting place between the three faiths: Christianity. Judaism and Islam.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“It is painful to discover that, sometimes, behind episodes of terrorism and violence, there are also international economic interests that encourage the unjust dynamics of colonialism. In that regard. I appeal to the family of nations gathered here in the General Assembly to let the spirit of dialogue prevail, to cease all kinds of economic and financial exploitation, and to take care to foster generous and respectful international cooperation. A special thought goes to Nicaragua, with which the Holy See hopes to engage in respectful diplomatic dialogue for the good of the local Church and of the entire population.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“The Holy See makes a heartfelt appeal for the laying down of arms so that dialogue can prevail and the suffering of the population can be alleviated. The Holy See closely follows political events in sub-Saharan Africa and renews its commitment to the promotion of peace, justice and prosperity. Local churches contribute to national reconciliation processes and act with a view to the common good, especially in the educational, charitable and health sectors. Of particular concern in sub-Saharan Africa have been the numerous episodes of violence, as well as the frequent coups that disrupt democratic processes, cause death and destruction, and cause humanitarian and migration crises.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“in addition to encouraging the resumption of a political process of reconciliation, calls for humanitarian emergencies not to be weighed against the rigidities of political positions, but to have the courage to look at the suffering of the people with truth and honesty, so that the international sanctions imposed on the Syrian Government by the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom do not afflict the local population. The situation in the Sudan also continues to be of great concern. Over the past six months, armed clashes have resulted in a high number of victims and displaced persons, as well as a very serious humanitarian crisis, increasingly distancing the prospect of achieving peace and restoring stability to the country.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“We remain far from true encounter and dialogue so as to put an end to the hatred, destruction and death and open paths of peace and reconstruction. That is what the Holy See. apart from its humanitarian assistance, hopes for and seeks to promote with each of its countless appeals and initiatives, dependent on the cooperation of all international actors. The humanitarian situation in Syria is indeed worrisome. Syrians, plagued by 12 years of war. earthquake and great poverty, are once again sounding the alarm, expressing their great hardships and demanding that a solution to their sufferings be found. The Holy See.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“Despite the fact that so many tragedies have struck and are still shaking the family of nations this year, amid natural disasters, severe food security problems and political instability, causing anguish, hardship and uncertainty about the future, the Russian attack on Ukraine remains one of the most painful and bleeding wounds, which instead of healing is widening and deepening. Undoubtedly, in more than 18 months of war. we have witnessed the admirable, ever-renewed commitment of so many countries to helping the battered Ukraine defend its people and its territory. Unfortunately, however, that has not been accompanied by an equal effort to find ways in which the confrontation can be overcome.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“Along with the lack of religious freedom, there is also outright religious persecution. I cannot fail to mention that one Christian in every seven is persecuted. Moreover, violence against Christians is on the increase and not only in countries where they are a minority. Even the terms “hate crime” and “hate speech” are now being used subjectively and manipulated to keep people from expressing their religious beliefs, equating the practice of religion to violence. That purposefully dishonest, politically motivated agenda, especially egregious in the West, must end.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“In the world today, numerous forms of injustice persist; while one part of humankind lives in opulence, another part sees its own dignity denied, scorned or trampled upon, and its fundamental rights disregarded or violated. First and foremost among those are the unborn, who are denied the right to come into the world. Let us never forget that the true litmus test to see if human rights are being protected is the degree to which people have freedom of religion or belief in a country. Disturbingly, we continue to live in a world where people are persecuted simply for professing their faith in public. There are many countries where religious freedom is severely restricted. Indeed, about one-third of the world’s population lives in that condition and the number only seems to be growing.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“The international community needs to focus on a positive outcome at the forthcoming twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the United Arab Emirates, without reducing the discussions on climate change to financing issues. This year we are marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the thirtieth anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. The significant anniversaries of those documents invite us to engage in an in-depth reflection on the foundation of human rights and respect for them in the contemporary world in order to renew commitments in favour of the defence of human dignity.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“The Holy See supports the establishment of an international organization for artificial intelligence, aimed at facilitating the fullest possible exchange of scientific and technological information for peaceful uses and for the promotion of the common good and integral human development. Moreover, the development of new technologies should go hand in hand with the care for our common home. New technologies should be used to mitigate the planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, and it is urgent that we act now to safeguard the world we live in.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“There is an urgent need to engage in serious ethical reflection on the use and integration of supercomputer systems and processes in our daily lives. We must be vigilant and work to ensure that the discriminatory use of those instruments does not take root at the expense of the most fragile and excluded. It is not acceptable that the decision about someone’s life and future should be entrusted to an algorithm. That is valid in all situations, including in the development of use of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). Recently, a growing number of legal and ethical concerns have been raised, about the use of LAWS in armed conflicts. It is clear that their use should be in line with international humanitarian law.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“In that context, there is need to instil an ambitious programme of work for the second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). including the advancement of discussions on the creation of an international trust fund to support a restorative approach to the human and environmental harms caused by nuclear use and testing. The Holy See calls on States to sign and ratify the TPNW. as well the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test- Ban Treaty and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which together form the basis for the disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Another important challenge that we have at hand could be defined more generally as the expanding digital galaxy we inhabit, and specifically artificial intelligence.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“Thus, a real reform of the United Nations must favour a reversal of the current priorities, making the United Nations truly fit for purpose and reviving coordination among States to achieve truly common ends — in other words, going back to the basics, while restoring the healthy distinction between the actions of States and those of civil society, focusing on rebuilding healthy relations and trust among Nations. The conflict in Ukraine has been instrumental to bringing back the elevated threat of nuclear escalation into the discussion. Once again, it is the firm conviction of the Holy See that the use of atomic energy for purposes of war is. today more than ever, a crime not only against the dignity of human beings, but against any possible future for our common home, while the mere possession itself of nuclear weapons is also immoral.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“All States must rediscover a spirit of service with the intention of building a global solidarity that expresses itself concretely in helping those who suffer — a task that serves not ideas but people. Indeed, any reform of the United Nations must be based on rendering what is already existing more efficient and in line with the current era we are living in. In that respect, the multilateral system has shifted its focus from the peaceful coexistence of States to issues that are not that relevant for that purpose, preferring issues pertinent to the lives and patterns of individuals.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“It is necessary to return to listening and dialogue in order to solve and avoid further conflict and lessen the suffering of humankind. The international community must maintain the universality of global multilateral forums and not turn them into clubs reserved for a few elites, who think alike and where some are simply tolerated as long as they do not bother anyone. In that sense. I would highlight the following key words for effective multilateralism: dialogue, shared responsibility and cooperation, each in the pursuit of the common good and all under the banner of solidarity that comes from knowing that we are responsible for the fragility of others by seeking a common destiny.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“On the other hand, in these past years, we have seen crumbling trust among nations, clear evidence of which is the increase in number and gravity of conflicts and wars. Furthermore, the current conflict in Ukraine has made all the more evident the crisis that has long affected the multilateral system, which needs a profound rethinking if it is to respond adequately to the challenges of our time. All of that has resulted in an inevitable and equally significant increase in the number of meetings held at different levels, though not always in direct proportion to the effectiveness required in pursuing the proposed goals. We witness a marked tendency of States to impose their own ideas and agenda. Pope Francis calls that “ideological colonization”.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“I am pleased to extend to you. Sir. and to the representatives of nations gathered here the warm greetings of Pope Francis, while also congratulating Mr. Dennis Francis on his election as President of the Assembly. The Holy See wishes to commend him on the topic for this general debate and cannot agree more that there is an overwhelming need to start rebuilding trust in order to reignite global stability, peace and prosperity. In recent decades, the Organization has witnessed an increase in activities on various fronts, including laudable initiatives aimed at reducing poverty, helping migrants, combating climate change, promoting nuclear disarmament and offering humanitarian aid. along with multiple others.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“While care for our common home benefits us, it is also a gift to future generations, sparing them from paying the price of environmental deterioration and ensuring that they will be able to enjoy its beauty, wonder and manifold endowment.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“I am thinking, above all, of issues relating to food security and food safety, as well as access to clean water and the management of the oceans. Without an approach informed by ethical considerations, we are left with an economic system where financial gain and political power are placed above the good of the environment and those most vulnerable. An ethical approach to the current crisis must also inspire solidarity with future generations. As Pope Francis reminds us, intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“As Pope Francis has reminded us, we are not faced with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather one complex crisis that is both social and environmental. That complex reality involves not only our common home but also our partners on this planet and therefore demands an integrated ethical approach that simultaneously cares for the environment while it combats poverty and exclusion, assures the collective enjoyment of the common good, and fosters intergenerational solidarity. Such an approach requires taking with the utmost seriousness our responsibility to care for our precious natural resources and to protect those persons, especially the poorest, who depend on them for their daily subsistence.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The report stresses, however, that progress has been uneven and too slow to meet the ambitious goals of the Agenda. By 2015, 30 per cent of people worldwide still did not have access to safe drinking water, while 60 per cent did not have access to adequate sanitation. After a prolonged decline, world hunger has been rising again. The recent 2018 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development showed that there is an urgent need to step up efforts focused on energy, water and ecosystems. Moreover, the recent rise in trade tensions and the growing scepticism with regard to multilateralism endanger the coordinated global effort to sustainable development for all. The centrality of the human person must also be reaffirmed in the context of the current environmental crisis.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The Holy See hopes that the twenty-fourth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Katowice, Poland, this December, will provide a strong step in that direction through a good and effective advancement on the work programme of the Paris Agreement. The Secretary-General has described in his report (E/2018/64) some of the recent progress made in the area of integral development across the world. The mortality rate of children under 5has dropped by 47 per cent in the past 10 years. The proportion of the population of the least developed countries with access to electricity has more than doubled since 2000. Unemployment has decreased in many countries, as various institutions and frameworks needed for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda have been put into place.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“That principle of interconnectedness is found in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In adopting those documents, we committed ourselves to promoting integral and authentic development in harmony with nature. We should put all our efforts into achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the demanding goals of the Paris Agreement.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Respect for human rights and human dignity, based on a profound appreciation of the whole person and every person, is essential for efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and to promote integral human development. Without paying attention to those fundamental anthropological coordinates, the sustainable development agenda would be reduced to its economic, environmental or sociological elements. Extreme poverty is more than a socioeconomic problem; it is also an ethical one, flowing from a globalization of indifference exacerbated by consumerism. The alternative to that individualistic, indifferent and self-centred approach is an interpersonal one that involves personal, social, economic and environmental advancement and solidarity.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The way we care for every child shows the depth of our humanity and of our appreciation for the dignity and rights of each person. For its part, the Roman Catholic Church is committed, at all levels, not only to promoting the protection of children, but also to creating safe environments for them in its own institutions, in order to address the heinous scourge of sexual abuse and violence against children. When the Universal Declaration speaks about development, it also does so with regard to the free and full development of the human person. For the Holy See, development must always be integral, which means, in the words of Pope Paul VI, that it cannot be restricted to economic growth alone. Authentic development must be well rounded, and it must foster the development of each person and of the whole person.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Those principles have perennial validity, even in the midst of changing societies, and must be upheld for the good of every child, every family and every society. As Pope Francis reminds us, the strength of the family lies in its capacity to love and to teach how to love. The family is a school of humanity, a school that teaches us to open our hearts to others’ needs, to be attentive to their lives. As such, it remains a model, as well as a reference, for the promotion of harmony within society and among the family of nations. The family is the greatest treasure for a country and for future generations. In particular, it is urgent to promote the protection of children today, as children are regularly victims of armed conflict, violence, various forms of exploitation and abuse, and are exposed to hunger and extreme poverty.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The Holy See wishes to avail itself of this occasion to express grateful appreciation for all those women who, sometimes heroically, have raised and educated generations of responsible daughters and sons. The world owes them gratitude and esteem, support and solidarity. The Universal Declaration understands human dignity as the dignity of the person within society, since the person always exists in relation to others. Article 16, paragraph 3, of the Declaration stresses that the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. Article 25 affirms that motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. Article 26 underlines that parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The authentic advancement of women entails absolute respect for their inherent dignity, while acknowledging their crucial roles, not only in the various spheres of society, but also in the family, as equal participants in marriage as spouses. It is therefore contradictory to seek to promote women’s empowerment while suppressing their unique natural potentialities in the name of some particular interests or in the exercise of an ideological agenda. It is equally contradictory when women’s irreplaceable contribution to society through motherhood is stigmatized as an obstacle to their advancement and empowerment, instead of being acknowledged, supported and accompanied with measures aimed at alleviating the difficulties that they may encounter.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We note with great concern that women’s indispensable role is often undervalued and can even be a vehicle for the exploitation and violation of their dignity and fundamental rights. Today, women still face a variety of challenges and difficulties in various parts of the world. They experience discrimination in the workplace; they are often forced to choose between work and family; and they disproportionately suffer in conflict situations. In poor and developing countries, women bear the heaviest burdens: it is they who travel many miles in search of water, who too often do not have access even to the most basic medical assistance that they need in childbirth, and who are kidnapped for sexual exploitation or forced into marriage. At times, they are even denied the right to life simply for being female.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Beyond their professional competence and technical knowledge, women have, indeed, shown a special capacity for recognizing, affirming, nurturing and defending the inherent dignity of others, and for contributing greatly to efforts aimed at promoting a peaceful, respectful and harmonious world. As Pope Francis has affirmed, women look at life through their own eyes, and men are not able to look at life in the way that women do. The way of viewing a problem, of seeing anything, is different for a woman compared to a man. They must be complementary. The true progress in humanity that is dramatically needed in our challenged world will also depend on the full participation of women on an equal and same footing with men in the civil, political, social, economic or cultural fields.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“While textbooks normally obsess about the names at the top of political hierarchies and are preoccupied fundamentally with economic and military trends, it is worth recalling that genuine human progress happens more fundamentally in the relations that human beings have with one another and in the way in which human beings care for one another. Today, women and men are at the forefront of the revolution of tenderness that Pope Francis has insisted the world urgently needs. In response to various forms of human suffering and to material, emotional or even spiritual necessities, people need help and remedies that accord with the fullness of their human dignity. Having gone through multiple traumas, they need to be cared for and treated with great sensitivity and attention.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that the equal rights of men and women flow from their inherent dignity and worth. It is therefore necessary to adopt all measures needed to promote equality in rights and the full and equal participation of women and men in society. While history books sing the victories of emperors and warriors, all of civilization owes an unpayable debt of gratitude to the less chronicled or even unknown contributions of women and men that have shaped civilizations.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In particular, counter-terrorism measures should not hinder the legitimate work of charitable organizations, including those motivated by faith, aimed at caring for vulnerable populations. It must be recognized that humanitarian assistance in underdeveloped countries and in crisis zones contributes positively to the prevention of terrorism and retaliatory violence, which thereby fosters the enjoyment of human rights and the respect for dignity. As noted in the report of the Secretary- General on the work of the Organization, terrorism is a worldwide scourge and requires a globally coordinated response. The Holy See welcomes all efforts to enhance multilateral cooperation against terrorism, such as the recent United Nations High-level Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies of Member States.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“For their part, political leaders must ensure the enjoyment of the right to religious freedom, while acknowledging religion’s positive contribution to the building of a civil society that sees no opposition between the participation in the political community and the spiritual dimension of life. They must also ensure that there are no conditions — such as poverty, insufficient support for families and inadequate investment in education and culture — that favour the spread of fundamentalism. The Holy See wishes to reaffirm its heartfelt concern for all victims of terrorism. At the same time, it wishes to underline that all measures to combat terrorist activities must fully respect human rights.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Although, even today, there are some acts of religiously motivated violence, the response to them must not be a renewed form of retaliatory justice, but rather authentic dialogue between the various religious communities on the basis of the joint and unequivocal belief that killing others in the name of God offends God himself. Terrorism is not an outgrowth of properly understood religion, but rather the fruit of a profound spiritual poverty. Defeating it requires the joint contribution of all religious and political leaders. Religious leaders must therefore promote those values that foster the love of one’s neighbour.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“A culture of peace involves, therefore, the courageous choice of not allowing the wounds of the past to bleed into the present, so that we can walk together towards reconciliation. Every religion is called upon to assist in the reconciliation effort by promoting peace. Equally important is the testimony given when different religions come together to pray and work for peace. Interreligious and intercultural dialogue provides the world with a paradigm to share their respective cultural patrimony, grow in mutual appreciation of others’ perspectives, heal past wounds, and journey together toward peace and human development. Religious men and women, moved as they are to revere each other’s God-given dignity, have a special responsibility to bear witness by respectful and constructive dialogue among cultures.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Such an implementation necessarily entails fulfilling all obligations under international human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as condemning any deliberate attacks against civilian targets. It means preventing or stopping crimes against humanity and protecting populations from them through greater legal, political and moral accountability. Peace requires forgiveness. Forgiveness is central to reconciliation and peacebuilding, since it makes possible the healing and rebuilding of human relations. Forgiveness is not opposed to justice, but it is rather its fulfilment, since it leads to the healing of the wounds that fester in human hearts, while acknowledging the evil that has been committed.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“It is worthwhile to recall that, although the responsibility to protect was defined only at the 2005 World Summit, it has always been at the root of the United Nations. Already in the early part of the sixteenth century, when the concept of national sovereign States was emerging, the Spanish friar Francisco de Vitoria described the responsibility of governors to protect their citizens as an aspect of natural reason shared by all nations and a rule for an international order whose task is to regulate relations between peoples. The principles that De Vitoria articulated in the sixteenth century have been enshrined in the 2005 World Summit Outcome document (resolution 60/1). The Holy See upholds the perennial validity of the responsibility to protect and calls for its full, impartial and consistent implementation.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In that perspective, the Holy See is firmly committed to the full implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the various programmes of action in the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons fields, as well as those relating to cluster munitions, anti-personnel mines and small arms and light weapons. The responsibility to defend human dignity and rights is particularly acute in situations where people fall victim to genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Today, at a time when the many national and regional conflicts add up to what Pope Francis has called a third world war fought piecemeal, the need to protect populations is more urgent than ever.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The Holy See underlines the deep bonds between the promotion of the culture of peace and the strengthening of disarmament and non-proliferation efforts. The proliferation of weapons, in fact, aggravates conflicts and generates vast human and material costs, hindering human and economic development and the search for lasting peace. As the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization (A/73/1) emphasizes, we need to reinvigorate disarmament, because it is pivotal to preserving human society through the prevention of conflict and the reduction of violence, and to saving lives and ensuring a safer world.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“A culture of peace implies fighting injustice and rooting out, in a non-violent way, the causes of discord that lead to wars. The pursuit of peace requires renouncing the use of violence to vindicate one’s rights, since countering violence with violence leads to more death and destruction, deeper resentment and hatred lasting for decades, atrocities and forced mass migrations, and the diversion of vast amounts of resources from development to military ends. Fostering a culture of peace likewise entails the intensification of our efforts to achieve disarmament and the rejection of the use of force in the conduct of international affairs. Every effort in that direction, however modest, helps to build a culture of peace.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The Holy See considers the recent political developments in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea, as positive signs toward the building of peaceful and democratic societies based on the firm hope that agreements reached will be mutually respected. War and armed conflict can be prevented only by promoting and protecting the dignity of every human life and by fostering a culture of peace animated by sincere mutual respect, dialogue and solidarity. The tragedy of the First World War, whose end 100 years ago we will mark in November, teaches us, as Pope Francis stated, that victory must not be followed by the humiliation of a defeated foe and that peace can be achieved only when nations can discuss matters on equal terms.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Furthermore, all interested parties must also demonstrate a unified will to strive for an end to violence and work to reach, as Pope Francis stated, a solution that can enable Palestinians and Israelis alike to live at last in peace within clearly established and internationally recognized borders, thus implementing the two-State solution. The Holy See remains concerned about the ongoing political tensions and instability in Nicaragua and Venezuela, especially with regard to the humanitarian crisis in the latter. There is also a need to promote a genuine public awareness of a number of ongoing situations of conflict with a view to reaching a negotiated and peaceful solution, especially in Ukraine, Libya and the Central African Republic, among others.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Article 1 affirms that we are “endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”. Wars and armed conflicts are, therefore, not only violations of reason, conscience and brotherhood, but they also cause the worst violations of human dignity and basic human rights. In the Middle East, the multifaceted political and diplomatic pressures and violence, together with the various humanitarian situations, especially in Syria, must be adequately and urgently addressed by the international community.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“A just policy is one at the service of the person, of every person involved; a policy that provides for solutions that can ensure security [and] respect for the rights and dignity of all; a policy concerned with the good of one’s own country, while taking into account that of others in an ever more interconnected world.” The Holy See hopes that the global compacts will serve as useful tools for good migration management at every level and a common resource for achieving our shared responsibility, given the plight of refugees, and as reference points for international cooperation in the management of migration and the care for refugees. The Universal Declaration reminds us that the defence of the “inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of ... peace in the world”.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In a recent homily during a Holy Mass for Migrants on 6 July 2018, Pope Francis said: “Faced with the challenges of contemporary movements of migration, the only reasonable response is one of solidarity and mercy...”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“When individuals are forced to leave their families behind, often in search of a better life for their children and loved ones, the very fabric of society begins to unravel. There is no substitute for family unity, which must be upheld, both for those who remain, as well as for those on the move. Pope Francis described those shared responsibilities and authentic solidarity in four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate. The Holy See hopes that the honest effort expended on the global compacts will ensure, in line with those four steps, respect for migrants’ and refugees’ rights and dignity in a spirit of international solidarity while recognizing the sovereign right of States to determine their national migration policy in light of their obligations under international law.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“That includes not only increased investment in education and basic health-care infrastructure and services, but also capacity-building and training for young people, with a view to helping them find their place and affirm their dignity in an increasingly destabilizing global economy. It also requires addressing the root causes and driving factors that lead to displacement before the people in question are constrained to leave their homelands. In order to respect every person’s human dignity, it is indispensable also to create the conditions necessary for the realization of the right to remain. Those conditions include the protection of the family as the basic unit of society.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)