VATICAN CITY, DEC 7, 2004 (VIS) - Archbishop
Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and Holy See permanent observer to the
United Nations, spoke yesterday in New York before the plenary of the 59th
General Assembly as it celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the International Year
of the Family.
Addressing the assembly in French, he noted that the U.N. debates and
programs "focus on a broad concept of security, comprising what in our U.N.
parlance we call the 'hard threats', like terrorism and weapons of mass
destruction; and the 'soft threats', namely unemployment, poverty, the HIV/AIDS
pandemic, exploitation of children and women, scarce access to housing and
sanitation, education and medicines, the things that affect the whole of human
society in its daily life."
"In this context," said the nuncio, "my delegation would like
to lend its support to the family, the fundamental unit of society by its nature
and by the indispensable contribution that it is called to make in the
achievement of security and development. The family, that is the stable and
lasting union of a man and a woman, appears first of all as the most natural and
the best suited way to assure the procreation and thus the renewal of the
generations."
Archbishop Migliore went on to say that "it is not only about bringing
children into the world, but also about educating them; the economic notion of
'human capital' is particularly well suited here: as the first place of
formation of human capital, the family appears truly indispensable to
development. ... There can only be action in favor of the family if there first
exists a real political will to promote a model."
He underscored that family policy must be "clearly distinguished from
social policy" and "should permit a durable economic development: the
objective would certainly not be to 'suppress' the family! Ultimately, family
policy ... must promote a model that at the very least does not penalize those
who wish to have children," should include "a just compensation of the
costs linked to education and a true recognition of domestic work" and
requires "a long-term action, based on criteria of justice and of
efficiency because the family is an investment for tomorrow."