Statement by H.E. Archbishop Celestino Migliore
Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy
62nd session of the United Nations
Agenda item 49: Culture of Peace
New York, 30 October 2007
This Organization was born out of
the ashes of a world war singular for the untold outrages to the dignity of the
human person. It was therefore fitting that the very opening lines of the
Charter enshrine the immediate link between peace and respect for fundamental
in the field of human rights, exemplified by the core International Human Rights
Treaties, indicate that the inseparability between peace and respect for the
rights and dignity of the person is now accepted as self-evident, universal and
inalienable. The recognition of the existence of fundamental human rights
necessarily presupposes a universal and transcendent truth about man that is not
only prior to all human activity, but also determines it.
At the interpersonal level, human
dignity requires to treat all as equal to ourselves. The golden rule of doing
unto others what you want others do unto you carries the same principle of
fundamental equality that precedes and transcends all characteristics that
distinguish us one from the other, be it race, culture or religion.
At the international level, this
common dignity also determines the just measure of national interests. They are
interrelational and may never be considered absolute. To promote and defend
them, not only is it never right to harm the legitimate interests of other
States, but there is also an obligation to help promote and defend the common
good of all people. Thus, respect for human dignity is the deepest ethical
foundation in our search for peace and in the construction of international
relations that correspond to the requirements of our common humanity. Forgetting
or partially and selectively accepting this core principle is at the origin of
conflicts, of environmental degradation and of social and economic injustices.
are grounded in the objective requirements of nature bestowed on man. In
this context, laws contrary to human dignity may never be passed and progress in
every field cannot be measured by what is possible, but by its compatibility
with human dignity.
Respect for the right to life at
every stage, from conception to natural death, firmly establishes the principle
that life is not at anyone’s disposal. Our capacity to distinguish between what
we can dispose of and what we cannot is most challenged when it comes to protect
life in its most vulnerable phases. This is the rule with which to measure
respect for human dignity.
It is in this continuum of
respect for life that the abolition of the death penalty should be put in
context. It is also within this framework that even in the midst of war, all
must respect international humanitarian law. When, despite every effort,
war does break out, at least the essential principles of humanity must be
safeguarded and norms of conduct must be established to limit the damage as much
as possible and to alleviate the suffering of civilians and of all the victims
In the same manner that the right
to life cannot be disposed of at will, the right to religious freedom cannot be
subject to human caprice. In this regard, the difficulties that still many
followers of various religions frequently encounter in freely exercising their
right to religious freedom is a disturbing symptom of a lack of peace. Not only
are they prevented from publicly exercising this right, they are actually
persecuted and subjected to violence in some places. A fundamental human right
is violated, with serious repercussions for peaceful coexistence, when a State
imposes a single religion upon everyone and prohibits all others, or when a
secular system denigrates religious beliefs and denies public space to religion.
On their part, religions are
called to work for peace and to foster reconciliation among peoples. Faced with
a world lacerated by conflict, religions must never become a vehicle of hatred,
and never can they justify evil and violence invoking the name of God.
The Charter calls on this
Organization to exercise leadership in the promotion of human rights. In doing
so, it must not lose sight of the principle that these rights are held to be
true, not because a decision-making body says so, but because they flow from the
inalienable dignity of every human person.
Thank you, Mr President.