ARCHBISHOP MARTINO SPEAKS AT U.N. ON DEVELOPMENT

VATICAN CITY, SEP 29, 2000 (VIS) - Archbishop Renato Martino, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations, spoke yesterday before the Third Committee of the 55th session of the General Assembly on Item 103, Social Development.

Referring to the U.N.'s 2000 Report on the World Social Situation, the archbishop expressed the Holy See's satisfaction that the "Report testifies to a growing awareness of human dignity, and a more lively concern that human rights should be respected."

He highlighted, however, the "persistent" and "often widening gap between the haves and the have-nots characterized by the unequal distribution of wealth." Responsibility "lies in part" with "the developing nations themselves," he said, though "developed and wealthy countries continue to furnish inadequate assistance to developing and poor ones."

The nuncio then spoke of "a critical yet often underestimated aspect of development, namely that development cannot be limited to economics and politics, but must pay attention to cultural and human factors. Genuine development must be integral," taking "into account human beings in the totality of their bodily and spiritual existence."

Calling culture "an all-embracing climate rather than an articulated system," Archbishop Martino added that "it is a social force that encompasses individuals and welds them into communities. It shapes their prejudices, ideas, values, habits, attitudes, tastes and priorities."

"In this regard," the archbishop affirmed, "the family plays a critical role," being "the natural and fundamental unit of society. ... It is a stable community of love and solidarity uniquely suited to teaching and handing on the cultural, ethical, social and spiritual values that are essential for the development and well-being of its members and of society."

Concluding, Archbishop Martino stated that "precisely because of the essentially moral character of development, the main obstacles to development will be overcome only by means of essentially moral decisions. ... The Holy See proposes a solidarity which accepts the fact of interdependence and raises it to the moral plane."

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