(Vatican Radio) The Holy See delegation to the United Nations on Monday spoke about safeguarding the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples. “The Holy See firmly believes that no discrimination based on race, sex, religion or ethnicity should be tolerated,” said Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the…
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(Vatican Radio) The Holy See delegation to the United Nations on Monday spoke about safeguarding the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples. “The Holy See firmly believes that no discrimination based on race, sex, religion or ethnicity should be tolerated,” said Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Tuesday said “a Christian is a person who knows how to wait for Jesus cultivating a solid hope in Salvation.”
He was speaking during his homily at morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:
Reflecting on the Gospel of Luke and on St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the Pope said the people of God is united in Christ, thanks to Him has a name, and goes beyond every enmity.
Quoting from Luke, Francis said “blessed are the servants who await their master’s return from a wedding with lighted lamps”. In the scene that follows – he continued – Jesus has the servants recline at table and proceeds to wait on them.
The first service the Master performs for Christians, is to give them an “identity”. Without Christ – the Pope said – we have no identity.
And he reflected on the words of St. Paul in which he tells the pagans to remember that without Christ, they were alienated from the community of Israel.
What Christ came to do – he explained – was to give us citizenship, a belonging to the people, a name and a surname. So from being enemies without peace – he said – Christ has turned us into one by his blood, breaking down the walls that divide.
“We all know that when we are not in peace with others, there is a wall. There is a wall that divides us. But Jesus offers us his service to break down this wall so we can meet. And if we are divided, we are not friends: we are enemies. And he has reconciled us all in God. He has reconciled us as friends, as enemies, as strangers, as sons and daughters.”
From simply being people in the street, people who were not even guests – Pope Francis said – to being “fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God”. This is what God created with his coming. But what are His conditions? – the Pope asked – “they are to await Him, like servants awaiting their master.”
“Waiting for Jesus. He who does not await Jesus, who closes his door to Jesus, does not allow him to go forward with his work of peace, of community, of citizenship. And he does more: he gives us a name. He renders us children of God. We need to adopt an attitude that contains Christian hope. A Christian is a man or a woman of hope. He or she knows the Lord will come. We do not know when, we do not know at what time, but He will come and He must not find us divided. He must find us as He rendered us with His service: friends living in peace.”
At this point – Pope Francis concluded – there is another question a Christian must ask himself: how do I await Jesus? And first: “shall I wait for Him or not?”:
“Do I have faith in this hope that He will come? Is my heart open to hear Him knocking on the door, to hear Him entering the door? A Christian is a man or a woman who knows how to await Jesus. He or she is a person of hope. Instead a pagan –and so often we Christians behave like pagans – forgets Jesus, thinks of himself, does not await Jesus. The selfish pagan behaves if he himself was a god: ‘I make do on my own’. And he does not end up well, he ends up without a name, without closeness, without citizenship”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
Vatican City, 2014 (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office today confirmed that His Holiness Francis, accepting the invitation issued by the civil authorities, His Holiness Bartolomaios I and the bishops, will make an apostolic trip to Turkey from 28 to 30 November 2014, during which he will visit Ankara and Istanbul. The Pope will leave on the morning of Friday 28 from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, and will arrive at Esenboga Airport, Ankara at approximately 1 pm. He will first visit the Mausoleum of Ataturk, after which he will transfer to the presidential palace where he will be received by the president of the Republic and the authorities, to be followed by a meeting with the Prime Minister. He will subsequently visit the president of Religious Affairs in the Diyanet. On the following day, Saturday 29, the Holy Father will travel by air to Istanbul where he will visit the Hagia Sophia Museum, the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque, and the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, where he will celebrate Mass. Later, in the patriarchal Church of St. George, there will be an ecumenical prayer and a private meeting with His Holiness Bartholomaios I. On Sunday 30 Pope Francis will celebrate Mass privately with the apostolic delegation. In the patriarchal Church of St. George a divine liturgy will take place, followed by an ecumenical blessing and the signing of the Joint Declaration. In the afternoon the Holy Father will return to Istanbul Airport to return to Rome, where he is expected to arrive, at Fiumicino Airport, at 6.40 p.m….
(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, has told the UN General Assembly, when discussing the rule of law, the Holy See “would welcome increased attention to the human person and the society in which he or she lives, because, in addition to the police force, courts, judges, prosecutors and the rest of the legal infrastructure, the rule of law is unattainable without social trust, solidarity, civic responsibility, good governance and moral education.”
In a speech on October 13th, Archbishop Auza said the Holy See “endorsed a definition of the rule of law, which is both rationally and morally grounded upon the substantial principles of justice, including the inalienable dignity and value of every human person prior to any law or social consensus; and, as a consequence of the recognition of this dignity, those elements of fundamental justice such as respect for the principle of legality (Nullum crimen sine lege), the presumption of innocence and the right to due process. Likewise, regarding relations among States, the rule of law means the paramount respect of human rights, equality of the rights of nations; and respect for international customary law, treaties (Pacta sunt servanda) and other sources of international law.”
The full text of Archbishop Auza’s intervention is below
Statement by H.E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza
Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See
69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
Sixth Committee, Agenda Item 83: Rule of Law
New York, 13 October 2014
Mr. Chairman,
Following the first-ever High-Level Meeting on the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels in September 2012, the UN General Assembly adopted a Declaration “reaffirm[ing] our commitment to the rule of law and its fundamental importance for political dialogue and cooperation among all States and for the further development of the three main pillars upon which the United Nations is built: international peace and security, human rights and development.” (RES/67/1). The Holy See Delegation welcomed this endorsement of the rule of law.
While commitment to the rule of law would appear to be universal, there nonetheless remains persistent disagreement about the definition of “the rule of law.” The Holy See Delegation has endorsed a definition of the rule of law, which is both rationally and morally grounded upon the substantial principles of justice, including the inalienable dignity and value of every human person prior to any law or social consensus; and, as a consequence of the recognition of this dignity, those elements of fundamental justice such as respect for the principle of legality (Nullum crimen sine lege), the presumption of innocence and the right to due process. Likewise, regarding relations among States, the rule of law means the paramount respect of human rights, equality of the rights of nations; and respect for international customary law, treaties (Pacta sunt servanda) and other sources of international law. This definition, with its reference point in the natural law, sidesteps self-referential definitional frameworks and anchors the orientation of the rule of law within the ultimate and essential goal of all law, namely to promote and guarantee the dignity of the human person and the common good.
For this reason, in future debates of the rule of law my delegation would welcome increased attention to the human person and the society in which he or she lives, because, in addition to the police force, courts, judges, prosecutors and the rest of the legal infrastructure, the rule of law is unattainable without social trust, solidarity, civic responsibility, good governance and moral education. The family, religious communities and civil society play indispensable roles in creating a society that can promote public integrity and sustain the rule of law. As Pope Francis affirmed: “When a society, whether local, national or global, is willing to leave a part of itself on the fringes, no political programs or resources spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems can indefinitely guarantee tranquility.” (Evangelii Gaudium n.59). This is why the promotion of the rule of law needs to be indispensably supported and verified by prioritizing the allocation of public resources to human integral development.
Mr. Chairman,
At the center of the international framework governing rule of law stands the UN Charter and the mandates contained within its purposes and principles. In the exercise of these powers, it is appropriate to emphasize the commitment of States to fulfil their obligations to promote universal respect for, and the promotion and protection of, all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. If the international rule of law is to reflect justice, frameworks to international protection of persons must be fairly and impartially applied by States to guarantee equal recourse to the protections available under the UN Charter. I refer here in particular to religious and ethnic minorities in the Middle East and other regions awaiting urgent measures to effect this protection, including through further legal elaboration of the responsibility to protect.
The “responsibility to protect” is a recognition of the equality of all before the law, based on the innate dignity of every man and woman. The Holy See wishes to reaffirm that every State has the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained violations of human rights and from the consequences of humanitarian crises. If States are unable to guarantee such protection, the international community must intervene with the juridical means provided in the UN Charter and in other international instruments. The action of the international institutions, provided that it respects the principles undergirding the international order, cannot be interpreted as an unwarranted imposition or a limitation of sovereignty.
The Holy See hopes that the alarming, escalating phenomenon of international terrorism, new in some of its expressions and utterly ruthless in its barbarity, be an occasion for a deeper and more urgent study on how to re-enforce the international juridical framework of a multilateral application of our common responsibility to protect people from all forms of unjust aggression.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
(from Vatican Radio)…