In his weekly editorial, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi defended the Holy See’s role at the UN.
“Sometimes we wonder why a religious authority like the Holy See takes part in the activities of a world assembly such as the United Nations General Assembly, often a theater of fierce political debate,” Father Lombardi began. To answer the question, he referred to three speeches given at the UN.
Blessed John Paul II “insisted on the fact that the United Nations must be a place where nations recognize one another as members of a ‘family,’ inspired by mutual solidarity and by a concern for the common good of all humanity.”
Then Pope Benedict XVI “developed the concept of the ‘responsibility to protect’ as a concrete expression of concern for the weakest members of society.”
Finally, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti--the Vatican’s foreign minister--recently discussed the relation between ethics and economics in an address to the UN. Father Lombardi commented:
“The family is a community founded on interdependence, on mutual trust, on reciprocal aid, and on sincere respect,” concluded the archbishop. It is in the interest of every human person to remember this, so that it might become a living reality in the world. It is for this reason above all that the Holy See is in New York."