HOLY SEE DELEGATION AT THE UNISPACE CONFERENCE

VATICAN CITY JUL 28, 1999 (VIS) - Professor Vittorio Canuto, a member of the Holy See delegation to the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Use of Outer Space (UNISPACE III), which is taking place in Vienna from July 19 to 30, made a speech to the conference on July 21. The speech, published today, is entitled: "Knowledge of space helps to disclose the responsibilities of humanity."

In his talk, the professor highlighted the necessity to transform the discoveries of space exploration from a diagnostic tool of the Cosmos, into a prognostic tool of the repercussions that natural or man-made phenomena have on the planet and its inhabitants.

Professor Canuto asked what humanity had learned, on the eve of the third millennium and after 50 years of space exploration. He said, "the greatest surprise has come from our looking back at our planet from space. Our exploration of outer space has led us to an unavoidable new conclusion. We are damaging our ecological systems by our profligate use of natural and mineral resources."

"This is a fundamental shift from the paradigm of the '70s, when we thought that the limits to economic growth were due to the finite nature of natural resources. The limits concern, in fact, the responsible use of these resources. ... As we venture both conceptually and practically into the conquest of outer space, we must redefine our way of living on this planet itself."

The Holy See delegate went on to recall how human history is marked by "benign" revolutions based on knowledge; from "the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago, to the industrial revolution two hundred years ago. The key to the third revolution that awaits humanity will be "knowledge based on education." The driving force will not be the land as was the case with the first revolution, nor coal, as it was with the second. It will be "information, ... an intangible public good that must be available to all if the information revolution is to have positive results. ... Individuals create knowledge which is an unlimited resource, the only truly unlimited resource that we have."

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