(ZENIT News / Rome, 03.11.2024).- The Holy See has been a Member of the United Nations for 60 years. It was the UN’s Secretary General, U Thant, a practicing Buddhist, who promoted its presence, along with that of other faith communities, to foment their role as intermediaries between the superpowers.
Pope Paul VI agreed with the proposal and the Vatican was incorporated in the global organization. He wanted to maintain the Holy See’s neutrality in the political world and opted for the status of Permanent Observer. The Vatican’s first Permanent Observer at the UN was Monsignor Alberto Giovanetti, who held the post from April 6, 1964 until 1973.
On Monday, September 30, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, celebrated a thanksgiving Mass for the 60th Anniversary of the Holy See’s presence as Observer State at the United Nations. The Mass was held in the Holy Family church in Manhattan, New York, a few blocks from the United Nations’ headquarters.
Concelebrating with Cardinal Parolin were Archbishop Gabriele Giordana Caccia, Apostolic Nuncio and current Permanent Observer, together with some members of the clergy of the Archdiocese of New York. 250 UN diplomats and observers attended the Mas, as well as staff members and relatives, friends of the Holy See’s Permanent Observation Mission and Catholic faithful.
Cardinal Parolin said that “To be a Christian implies promoting the dignity of brothers, to fight for it and to live for it. In fact in this logic of service to the littlest and to the voiceless is found the reason for the Holy See’s presence at the level of international community.”
He stressed the Church’s defense of social justice and economic development, the protection of the environment, care of the defenseless and forgotten, human dignity, human rights and “especially the most fundamental right of all: the right to life.”
“If we want to follow Jesus, we must follow the way He Himself traced,” said the Cardinal, as that way is “the way of service.” He pointed out that “we are [here] to serve those that need to receive and cannot give anything in return. When we welcome the marginalized and the abandoned, we welcome Jesus, because He is there.”
The Cardinal quoted Saint Paul VI, the first Pope that visited the United Nations and addressed the General Assembly, on October 4, 1965: “The Holy See’s Mission offers the wisdom of the Church as expert in humanity,” he said.
Cardinal Parolin’s address was followed by a reception in which he reiterated that, in a world “ever more fragmented by narrow interests, we must remember that we are all members of one human family. Hence, we renew our commitment to the vision of a world where peace, justice and human dignity are not mere aspirations but lived realities for all.”
On September 28, Cardinal Parolin addressed the 79th UN General Assembly, where he expressed the Holy See’s concern over the increase and gravity of conflicts in the world. He suggested the commitment of all countries to peace and that Members of the United Nations recover the Organization’s fundamental values.
