ZURICH, Switzerland, JAN. 22, 2002 (Zenit.org).- The Swiss bishops´ conference expressed support for Switzerland´s entry into the United Nations despite the international organization´s problems.
In a statement issued Monday, the bishops said that the United Nations, despite its problems, continues to be the most effective instrument to establish and preserve world peace.
Swiss citizens will vote in a referendum March 3 on whether their country should cease being an «observer» and become a full member of the organization of states.
«Despite its imperfections, the U.N. is today the most appropriate instrument to preserve and build world peace, to promote justice among peoples, and to find solutions to humanity´s problems, such as the degradation of the environment,» the episcopal statement affirms.
The Swiss bishops remind the faithful that this position is in line with the magisterium, especially of the last Popes. Beginning with John XXIII the Pontiffs have supported the work of the United Nations in their encyclicals and messages to the organization.
When the United Nations was established after World War II, Switzerland opted for neutrality, believing that it «might seem to be an organization of the victorious.» This argument is no longer valid, because today «it brings together the ensemble of nations,» the bishops said.
«To invoke neutrality in order to reject adhesion would mean to isolate our country even more,» the bishops emphasized. «The prosperity and security of the inhabitants of Switzerland depends less and less on what a small state can do, and more and more on what it does in the world community for peace and the environment.»
«The question no longer consists in knowing whether or not Switzerland should adhere to the U.N., but in knowing if it can still remain on the margin,» the bishops concluded.
