Pope, at U.N., to Address Issues that Cross Boundaries

By Francis X. Rocca - Religion News Service
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 - Web Link
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March 11, 2008

VATICAN CITY -- Next month, Pope Benedict XVI will become the third leader of the Catholic Church to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York, following Pope Paul VI in 1965, and Pope John Paul II in 1979 and 1995.

Vatican officials have not indicated what Benedict might say in his April 18 speech, but if his past statements are any guide, he will address some of the U.N.'s most prominent agenda items, such as arms control and the fight against global poverty and disease, along with issues of particular interest to the Holy See, such as religious freedom and abortion.

Whatever the precise content, Benedict's U.N. speech is bound to reflect a vision of peace and development drawn from Catholic social teaching -- priorities that cut across the usual geographic, political or ideological boundaries of the world community.

Like his predecessors, Benedict enthusiastically supports the U.N.'s founding mission, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and its central operating principle of multilateral diplomacy.

Last month (Feb. 29), the pope told the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Mary Ann Glendon, that resolving global conflicts calls for "trust in, and commitment to, the work of international bodies such as the United Nations."

The reference had special resonance since the Vatican opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 largely because the Bush administration lacked an explicit U.N. mandate.