VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 165
DATE 26-09-2015

Summary:
- Francis at the United Nations: critical and global decisions in the face of
worldwide conflicts
- Memorial at Ground Zero: life will always triumph over the prophets of
destruction
- Meeting with the children and families of immigrants in Harlem
- Mass in Madison Square Garden: God is living in our cities
- Other Pontifical Acts

___________________________________________________________

 Francis at the United Nations: critical and global decisions in the face of
worldwide conflicts
 Vatican City, 26 September 2015 (VIS) - The Pope's second day in New York
began
with his visit to the United Nations headquarters, where the Holy See has been
represented since 1964 in its status as a Permanent Observer, with the right of
participation without the right to vote.
 Upon arrival the Holy Father was greeted by the Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon,
with his wife and two children of United Nations workers who have lost their
lives in service, who offered him a bouquet of flowers. The Pope met privately
with the Secretary General who subsequently accompanied him to the hall to
greet
the organisation's staff. Francis laid a floral wreath before the plaque
commemorating staff who have lost their lives in service, recalling that the
work performed by United Nations employees, from experts to interpreters,
kitchen staff to security personnel, constitutes in many respects the
"backbone"
of the Organisation.
 "Most of the work done here does not appear in the news", he said. "Behind the
scenes your daily efforts make possible many of the diplomatic, cultural,
economic and political initiatives of the United Nations, which are so
important
in responding to the hopes and expectations of the peoples who make up our
human
family. Thank you for what you do".
 The Pope then travelled by golf cart to the building of the Assembly General
where he met, again privately and individually, with the presidents of the 70th
General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft (Denmark) and the 69th, Sam Kahamba Kutesa
(Uganda), along with the president of the Security Council, Vitaly Churkin
(Russian Federation).
 After these meetings, the Holy Father entered the Assembly hall where he was
greeted with great applause. After the welcome from the president of the 70th
General Assembly and the Secretary General of the United Nations, he addressed
the Representatives of the Nations, mentioning the praiseworthy achievements of
the United Nations during the seventy years of its existence, the construction
of structures of international human rights law, and its activity in
peace-keeping and reconciliation. He then turned to the issues of the
environment and the social and economic exclusion of a large proportion of the
world's population. He reiterated that war denies all rights, underlining the
need for tireless recourse to negotiation, and denounced religious persecution.
He also warned against any type of ideological colonisation and defined drug
trafficking as a war which is "taken for granted and poorly fought". He
emphasised that international financial bodies must "care for the sustainable
development of countries and should ensure that they are not subjected to
oppressive lending systems which, far from promoting progress, subject people
to
mechanisms which generate greater poverty, exclusion and dependence".
 The following is the full text of Pope Francis' address:
 "Once again, following a tradition by which I feel honoured, the Secretary
General of the United Nations has invited the Pope to address this
distinguished
assembly of nations. In my own name, and that of the entire Catholic community,
I wish to express to you, Mr Ban Ki-moon, my heartfelt gratitude. I greet the
Heads of State and Heads of Government present, as well as the ambassadors,
diplomats and political and technical officials accompanying them, the
personnel
of the United Nations engaged in this 70th Session of the General Assembly, the
personnel of the various programmes and agencies of the United Nations family,
and all those who, in one way or another, take part in this meeting. Through
you, I also greet the citizens of all the nations represented in this hall. I
thank you, each and all, for your efforts in the service of mankind.
 "This is the fifth time that a Pope has visited the United Nations. I follow
in
the footsteps of my predecessors Paul VI, in1965, John Paul II, in 1979 and
1995, and my most recent predecessor, now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, in 2008.
All of them expressed their great esteem for the Organisation, which they
considered the appropriate juridical and political response to this present
moment of history, marked by our technical ability to overcome distances and
frontiers and, apparently, to overcome all natural limits to the exercise of
power. An essential response, inasmuch as technological power, in the hands of
nationalistic or falsely universalist ideologies, is capable of perpetrating
tremendous atrocities. I can only reiterate the appreciation expressed by my
predecessors, in reaffirming the importance which the Catholic Church attaches
to this Institution and the hope which she places in its activities.
 "The United Nations is presently celebrating its seventieth anniversary. The
history of this organised community of states is one of important common
achievements over a period of unusually fast-paced changes. Without claiming to
be exhaustive, we can mention the codification and development of international
law, the establishment of international norms regarding human rights, advances
in humanitarian law, the resolution of numerous conflicts, operations of
peace-keeping and reconciliation, and any number of other accomplishments in
every area of international activity and endeavour. All these achievements are
lights which help to dispel the darkness of the disorder caused by unrestrained
ambitions and collective forms of selfishness. Certainly, many grave problems
remain to be resolved, yet it is also clear that, without all this
international
activity, mankind would not have been able to survive the unchecked use of its
own possibilities. Every one of these political, juridical and technical
advances is a path towards attaining the ideal of human fraternity and a means
for its greater realisation.
 "I also pay homage to all those men and women whose loyalty and self-sacrifice
have benefited humanity as a whole in these past seventy years. In particular,
I
would recall today those who gave their lives for peace and reconciliation
among
peoples, from Dag Hammarskjöld to the many United Nations officials at every
level who have been killed in the course of humanitarian missions, and missions
of peace and reconciliation.
 "Beyond these achievements, the experience of the past seventy years has made
it clear that reform and adaptation to the times is always necessary in the
pursuit of the ultimate goal of granting all countries, without exception, a
share in, and a genuine and equitable influence on, decision-making processes.
The need for greater equity is especially true in the case of those bodies with
effective executive capability, such as the Security Council, the Financial
Agencies and the groups or mechanisms specifically created to deal with
economic
crises. This will help limit every kind of abuse or usury, especially where
developing countries are concerned. The International Financial Agencies are
should care for the sustainable development of countries and should ensure that
they are not subjected to oppressive lending systems which, far from promoting
progress, subject people to mechanisms which generate greater poverty,
exclusion
and dependence.
 "The work of the United Nations, according to the principles set forth in the
Preamble and the first Articles of its founding Charter, can be seen as the
development and promotion of the rule of law, based on the realisation that
justice is an essential condition for achieving the ideal of universal
fraternity. In this context, it is helpful to recall that the limitation of
power is an idea implicit in the concept of law itself. To give to each his
own,
to cite the classic definition of justice, means that no human individual or
group can consider itself absolute, permitted to bypass the dignity and the
rights of other individuals or their social groupings. The effective
distribution of power (political, economic, defence-related, technological,
etc.) among a plurality of subjects, and the creation of a juridical system for
regulating claims and interests, are one concrete way of limiting power. Yet
today's world presents us with many false rights and - at the same time - broad
sectors which are vulnerable, victims of power badly exercised: for example,
the
natural environment and the vast ranks of the excluded. These sectors are
closely interconnected and made increasingly fragile by dominant political and
economic relationships. That is why their rights must be forcefully affirmed,
by
working to protect the environment and by putting an end to exclusion.
 "First, it must be stated that a true 'right of the environment' does exist,
for two reasons. First, because we human beings are part of the environment. We
live in communion with it, since the environment itself entails ethical limits
which human activity must acknowledge and respect. Man, for all his remarkable
gifts, which 'are signs of a uniqueness which transcends the spheres of physics
and biology', is at the same time a part of these spheres. He possesses a body
shaped by physical, chemical and biological elements, and can only survive and
develop if the ecological environment is favourable. Any harm done to the
environment, therefore, is harm done to humanity. Second, because every
creature, particularly a living creature, has an intrinsic value, in its
existence, its life, its beauty and its interdependence with other creatures.
We
Christians, together with the other monotheistic religions, believe that the
universe is the fruit of a loving decision by the Creator, who permits man
respectfully to use creation for the good of his fellow men and for the glory
of
the Creator; he is not authorised to abuse it, much less to destroy it. In all
religions, the environment is a fundamental good.
 "The misuse and destruction of the environment are also accompanied by a
relentless process of exclusion. In effect, a selfish and boundless thirst for

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