In a telegram given to Secretary-General Kofi Annan by Archbishop Renato Martino, Vatican permanent observer at the United Nations, the Pope encouraged the efforts of the Ghanaian diplomat to improve U.N. services.
The telegram´s text, published by Vatican Radio, urges the United Nations «to respond with increasing effectiveness to the difficult challenges that arise in the world, marked by apparently insurmountable imbalances, tensions and the lack of respect for human rights.»
«In your case, the Nobel Prize crowns a life dedicated to the service of peace and justice, and the well-being of the peoples of the world,» the Pope told Annan.