NEW AMBASSADOR FROM FRANCE PRESENTS LETTERS OF CREDENCE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 10, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning welcomed France's new ambassador to the Holy See, Alain Dejammet, who presented his Letters of Credence. The Pope spoke to him of the role of the European Union, the tasks facing governments and institutions in today's world of globalization, and of the need to constantly defend human rights, including first and foremost, the rights to life and religious freedom.

The Pope remarked that in several weeks France will assume the presidency of the European Union which this years marks the 50th anniversary of its founding. "The European Union is both a stake and a challenge: it opens the way to a future of peace and solidarity and to ever more intense collaboration among the different countries of the continent and those of the rest of the world."

People and institutions are called, he said, to have the common good at heart, "exercising their mission as a service to populations, in respect for the rules of fair play, justice and probity, essential for every man, but in a special way for those who work in the public sector. It could also be an obstacle to occult networks that hope to profit from the great European market to launder money from every sort of traffic which is an affront to man, in particular in the area of drugs, the arms trade and the exploitation of persons, especially women and children."

In building Europe, affirmed John Paul II, there must not be "a community of interests, but rather a community founded on values and mutual trust, placing man at the center of all endeavors." He urged "assistance to those nations which are coming out of a period of isolation, to help the citizens acquire the political maturity needed for public life."

On the question of human rights, the Holy Father remarked that "human rights are the foundation of the recognition of the human being and of social cohesion." They must be guaranteed by the public instance, he said, quoting Pope John XXIII, because "'they derive directly from our natural dignity and for this reason they are universal, inalienable and inviolable'. Among these, the right to life and to respect for life is primordial, as is support for the family, the basic cell of society."

He asked how individuals could place their trust in people and institutions unless they "guarantee each person's most precious good, his very life?" Decisions on matters of life cannot be "purely arbitrary decisions." It is a "duty" and an "honor" for countries to defend life, human dignity and human rights and to see that no one is marginalized.

On the freedom of religion, he said that "to mock religious beliefs, to discredit one form or another of religious practice and values ... is a form of exclusion contrary to the respect for basic human values. ... This can only engender a climate of tension, intolerance, opposition or suspicion, which is not propitious to social peace."

The Pope then turned to the topic of youth, thanking all those who, "with patience and tenacity, guide young people and create conditions so that learning may be accessible to everyone and the scourges which mark modern society, such as violence and drugs, may be contained."

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