The Popes at the UN: The Perspective of Benedict XVI
Bernard O'Connor Tuesday, 3 June 2008
On April 18, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the UN General Assembly. The director of the Vatican press office, Federico Lombardi, S.J., summarized the anticipation of many concerning the probable content of the Pope's message to the representatives of the 192 member nations. In an interview with Zenit InternationalNews Service[1], Lombardi commented that "there were some who expected the Pope ... to denounce one or another of the dramatic situations of injustice and conflict in the world today. No. The Pope has done that and continues to do it often, in his Address to the diplomatic corps at the beginning of the year, in his Christmas and Easter messages, in numerous appeals on different occasions." Similarly, "there were those who expected that the Pope would engage in polemics against the tendencies of various UN agencies to favor abortion and contraception. No." Rather, "on this occasion the Pope chose to give a speech of a different nature."
In order to consider whether Pope Benedict's remarks were truly "of a different nature," it is important first to recall that this was the fourth instance when the spiritual head of the Roman Catholic Church has addressed the General Assembly. Previously, in 1965, the then Secretary General, U Thant, invited Pope Paul VI to reflect upon the significance of the UN's Twentieth Anniversary. This was followed by a visit from Pope John Paul II in 1979 and, again, in 1995, for the UN's Fiftieth Anniversary.
While Pope Benedict could have played it safe and merely rehashed salient points offered by his predecessors, I believe his statements at the UN on April 18 were as distinct as they were profound. They were carefully and intentionally formulated so as to expand upon the prior discourse of Popes Montini and Wojtyla.
October 4, 1965: The UN Elicits the Totality of Human Aspiration
In a text consisting of seven Articles[2], Pope Paul VI's approach was primarily two-fold: to advocate the ongoing viability of the UN's structure, and also to affirm the benefits for humanity of the goals designated by the UN Charter. For example, according to the Pope, after twenty centuries of service, the voice of the Church is that of an "expert in humanity." And humanity seeks what the UN signifies, a yearning for harmony and peace (n.1). The legitimate identity and pluralism of sovereign States requires just such a "juridic condition" in order to promote transnational order and stability (n. 2).
The challenges confronting the UN are not easy, to say the least. Nor can those challenges be overcome without a resolve to associate in a spirit of mutuality, generosity, and the will to "go ever forward" (n. 3). Moreover, it is imperative to recognize each nation's inherent equality. For that reality is intrinsic to the UN's basic existence (n. 4). Because nations are motivated by the desire for peace, they should therefore not act in isolation from each other and never deliberately against each other. By contrast, nations, namely in the context of the United Nations, acquire a mission to advance peace by teaching peace (n. 5). Together, they promote a co-existence grounded upon an anthropology comprised of human dignity, respect for life, and the appropriate application of the remarkable resources of modern science and technology (n. 6). However, the Pope insists, the quest for transformation of society must take into account that our humanity is not reducible to the "purely material" realm. Ours is a history that points to "common origins" and ours is a civilization which must be mindful that there are spiritual tenets and a spiritual patrimony which are proper to its core (n. 7).
October 2, 1979: The UN Fosters Peace Through Cooperation
Pope John Paul II, within a year of his election, conveyed "gratitude to the General Assembly."[3] His emphasis was upon how the UN concretely "seeks out the ways for understanding and peaceful collaboration, and endeavors with the means at its disposal and the methods in its power to exclude war, division and .... destruction." It is "the good of each person" which demands that the UN strive to inspire mankind to overcome these forces and factors which would confine man to "specific alienation." The UN Declaration of Human Rights is a primary mechanism by which this may be achieved. That Declaration must prevail and thus counter the kind of "political interest" which clamors for a "one-sided gain and advantage to the detriment .... of the needs of others."
Dilemmas can attain a resolution, including those as complex as "the Palestinian question." But such must be derived from an "equitable recognition of the rights of all." The aim always has to be for a "just settlement." This suggests that nations must commit themselves to lessening "the very possibility of provoking war." The proliferation of "powerful and sophisticated weapons" simply cannot be allowed to persist. Instead, with the assistance of the UN, attention may be diverted to reckoning with "systematic threats against human rights." These are primarily two: inequality in the distribution of material goods, and "various forms of injustice in the field of the spirit." All of us are acquainted with how society is "wounded in (its) inner relationship with truth." The consequences range from an assault upon "conscience," to the degradation of "religious faith," to the whole sphere of "civil liberties." The Pope prays that the UN "will remain the supreme forum of peace" and "an authentic seat of freedom."
October 5, 1995: The UN Accelerates the "Worldwide Movement" for Freedom
In his second UN Address[4], Pope John Paul elaborated upon the theme of freedom with which he concluded his speech sixteen years prior. Freedom, he stated, will elude us if we "deny ... intelligibility to the nature of man or to the human experience" (n. 3). However, freedom is not without its risks, evident in "the revolutions of 1989" (n. 4). The UN supports their plea that the international community will "defend every nation and culture from unjust and violent aggression" (n. 5). Nor are we ever entitled to assert "that an individual nation is not worthy of existence" (n. 8). For example, a justification does not reside "in a narrow and exclusive nationalism" (n. 9) which has the annihilation of ‘other' as its dominant agenda. That kind of nationalism, often bearing the label of "fundamentalisms," is the antithesis of "patriotism" and leads to "aberrations of totalitarianism" (n. 11).
Freedom should not be "detached from the truth about the human person" (n. 12). That truth collapses when it "defines morality not in terms of what is good but of what is advantageous" (n. 13). The Pope is convinced that the UN promotes "effective mediation of conflicts," but also "fosters values, attitudes and concrete initiatives of solidarity" (n. 14). Due to the labors of the UN, we may witness the emergence of a "civilization of love" (n. 16). This is no mere and "unattainable utopia" (n. 15). Because "the tears of this century have prepared (us) for a new springtime of the human spirit" (n. 18).
Benedict XVI: The UN and the "Common Ends" of Peace and Development
Pope Benedict XVI relies upon the UN Charter to describe the "harmonizing" role of the organization[5], as did Paul VI and John Paul II. He acknowledges his debt to both (para. 1-2). And like Pope Paul, he attests that human rights do not follow automatically from "applying correct procedures" (para. 8). Neither "legislative enactments" nor "normative decisions" disclose the whole story of "the common good" (para. 9). Pope Benedict also concurs with John Paul II that analysis of "the right to religious freedom" proves that there is no contradiction "between the dimension of the citizen and that of the believer" (para. 12).
Benedict XVI then proceeds to his own particular view of the UN. He perceives that the UN is meant to embody "the principle of ‘responsibility to protect'"—an implementation of the "ancient" concept of the "ius gentium." And he links that concept with the "Dominican Friar Francesco de Vitoria," (d. 1546) who is "considered as a precursor of the United Nations." While Popes Paul VI and John Paul II portrayed the Church as a plausible partner of UN's ideals and endeavors, Pope Benedict goes further. He credits Catholic intellectual history as being a major pillar of the philosophic foundation upon which the UN has been constructed and from which it evolves. He therefore implies that the UN forgets its own legacy and severs ties with its own roots, so to speak, when it ignores how "this responsibility (is) an aspect of natural reason shared by all nations."
The vision articulated by De Vitoria was that of "an international order whose task it was to regulate relations between peoples." Hence, the UN's pivotal "values" and "inviolable principles" actually stem from the objectivity of "natural reason" (para. 5). This is exactly consistent with the Church's longstanding position. Comparable to the UN, the Catholic Church maintains that in the "building of international relations," every "person and every people" should be permitted "to feel that they can" and do "make a difference" (para. 13).
Not surprisingly, given their parallel affinities, "the Holy See has always had a place at the assemblies of the Nations." The United Nations has itself "recently confirmed" that the Holy See's contribution genuinely conforms "to the dispositions of international law." The Holy See "helps to define that law, and makes appeal to it" (idem).
[1] See Zenit (http://www.zenit.org/ ) for April 27, 2008, at ZE08042707.
[2] "Discours Du Papa Paul VI à L'Organisation Des Nations Unies à L'Occasion Du 20ème Anniversaire De L'Organisation," at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/speeches/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_196510.
[3] http://www.newadvent.org/docs/jp02ul.htm.
[4] http://christusrex.org/www1/pope/UN-speech.html.
[5] For an English translation of Pope Benedict's Address, see Zenit, April 18, 2008, at ZE08041803.