Pope to Diplomatic Corps: Uphold
human rights, defend family
Pope Francis addresses members of the Diplomatic Corps
accredited to the Holy See, calling for the defence of life and support for
families, and migrants.
Speaking to members of the Diplomatic Corps on Monday, Pope
Francis devoted this New Year's address to the UN Universal Declaration
of Human Rights which was adopted 70 years ago.
The Pope told the dignitaries gathered that from a Christian
perspective, there was a significant relationship between the Gospel message
and the recognition of human rights in the spirit of those who drafted the
document.
Human rights 70 years on
Quoting from St John XXIII’s 1963
encyclical Pacem
in Terris, essentially the Church’s own declaration on Human Rights,
the Holy Father noted that relations between nations, like all human
relationships, “must likewise be harmonized in accordance with the dictates of
truth, justice, willing cooperation, and freedom”.
The Pope commented that, “at a distance of seventy years, it
was painful to see how many fundamental rights continue to be violated
today.” Most notably, he said were the innocent children discarded
even before they are born, the elderly, who are often cast aside, women who
repeatedly suffer from violence and oppression, even within their own families
and the victims of human trafficking.
Family
Another important theme touched on during the Holy Father’s
address was that of the family, telling those present that he
considered it urgent, “that genuine policies be adopted to support the family,
on which the future and the development of states depend.”
Refugees and migrants
Focusing on an issue close to his heart, that of migration,
Pope Francis emphasized that the ability to leave one’s own country and
to return there, was a fundamental human right. He also thanked countries such
as Italy, who he said, had “shown an open and generous heart and offered
positive examples of integration.”
Employment
Finally, the Holy Father recalled the importance of the
right to employment, underlining that there could be “no peace or development
if individuals are not given the chance to contribute personally by their own
labour to the growth of the common good.”
A cause for particular concern, he said was the increase of
child labourers.
Concluding his address Pope Francis urged those in public
life to cultivate a spirit of service to humanity and intergenerational
solidarity, in order be a sign of hope for a troubled world.
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