ARCHBISHOP MARTINO ADDRESSES U.N. ON CULTURE OF PEACE

VATICAN CITY, OCT 23, 2001 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon Archbishop Renato Martino, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations, addressed the plenary of the General Assembly on the Culture of Peace, at U.N. headquarters in New York.

He called the Culture of Peace an "appropriate" topic for the General Assembly to address, noting that "The imperfect peace in which our world has dwelt has suddenly been shattered by violent and senseless attacks against innocent human beings." However, he said, real peace is possible, through conversion of minds and hearts and, as Pope John Paul has said throughout his pontificate, through dialogue.

"Peace begins within hearts," the archbishop affirmed. "It is not simply the absence of war, nor is it sought only to avoid widespread conflict but rather it helps to direct our reasoning and thus our actions toward the good of all. It becomes a philosophy of action that makes us all responsible for the common good and obliges us to dedicate all our efforts to its cause. ... A 'culture of peace' might be seen as 'that pattern of human behavior which must be cultivated and transmitted to future generations'."

The nuncio noted that "Situations of conflict exist in today's world where a just solution may have been refused over time, by both parties involved. This has fostered feelings of frustration, hatred and temptations to vengeance to which all must remain attentive. Those who honour God must be in the first rank of those who fight against all forms of terrorism."

"Acts of revenge will not cure such hatred," emphasized Archbishop Martino. "Reprisals, which strike indiscriminately at the innocent, continue the spiral of violence and are illusionary solutions that prevent the moral isolation of the terrorists. We must rather remove the most obvious elements that spawn the conditions for hatred and violence and which are contrary to any movement toward peace. ... (Elements such as) poverty, ... situations of marginalization, ... the denial of human dignity, the lack of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, ... intolerable refugee situations, ... and physical or psychological oppression are breeding grounds only waiting to be exploited by terrorists."

He stressed that "Building a culture of peace is not preposterous, nor a utopian dream. It is, rather, an attainable reality. ... Pope John Paul has always used the idea of this search for peace as a major theme," always expressing his "conviction that dialogue - true dialogue - is an essential condition for true peace."

DELSS;CULTURE OF PEACE;...;UN; MARTINO;VIS;20011023;Word: 420;