VATICAN CITY, OCT 28, 2004 (VIS) - Archbishop
Celestino Migliore, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations, addressed
the Plenary Session of the U.N. General Assembly yesterday on Item 35, A Culture
of Peace.
Stating that "it is very clear that the world needs peace now as much as
ever," he noted that "since 1967, the Popes too have played their
part, sending a Message on the first day of January every year to all people of
good will, each time proposing a fresh theme concerning peace and how to achieve
it."
The archbishop pointed to the work of the United Nations, listing its
peacekeeping operations during the year, the creation of a Counter-Terrorism
Executive Directorate and the current International Decade for a Culture of
Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World. He noted that "the
usually more dominant culture appears sometimes to trigger cultural reactions
against true peace and create suspicions about it. Similarly, globalization
seems unable to prevent threats to peace because cultural revivalism tends to
create walls that separate people from one another."
"The defense of peace, so often a fragile entity, must be
reinforced," he stated. "This can be achieved by cultivating in the
minds of all people of good will the imperative to become in some way agents of
peace. They are its architects, its builders and even its bridges."
Citing UNESCO meetings in various regions of the world, he remarked that
"we have to acknowledge that there is already a foundation to build upon in
the area of inter-religious cooperation. ... These discussions covered areas
such as terrorism, conflict resolution, HIV/AIDS, the role of religious leaders
in easing tensions, in counteracting the hijacking of religious values for use
as a pretext to justify violence and in supporting disarmament and
non-proliferation." The Holy See, said Archbishop Migliore, "calls for
a more energetic commitment to underline the deep linkages between the promotion
of the culture of peace and the strengthening of the disarmament and
non-proliferation process."