HOLY SEE ADDRESSES UNESCO CONFERENCE IN PARIS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 21, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was a speech given on October 19 by Msgr. Lorenzo Frana, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, during the 31st session of UNESCO's General Conference in Paris. The conference began October 15 and ends November 3.

Msgr. Frana recalled that he has been the Holy See permanent observer to UNESCO for 26 years during which time, he said, he has met many people "who have shown me the richness of the human soul when it spends itself in the service of others. He said he also has "observed and followed the continuity and evolution" of UNESCO.

He stated that "UNESCO offers itself as the 'conscience of the world', 'the crossroads of ideas', the 'meeting of cultures', a high place for dialogue'. It has been called 'the areopagus of the world' by Pope John Paul II." The head of the Holy See delegation added that UNESCO can also have a role as a "catalyst, through a deeper study of the ethical reflection on precise subjects: life, education for all, poverty and the humanization of cities, the economy, new technologies and, above all, of globalization."

He noted that "ethics occupy a large part of the preparatory documents of this General Conference. We know that ethics is in essence a question: 'What must one do to do good?', keeping one's view fixed on man, the dignity of every human being and the relation between truth and freedom, so as to give a convincing response to the basic questions of 'What is the meaning of human freedom?' and 'What are its creating power and its breadth?'"

In closing, Msgr. Frana spoke of the fight against terrorism, urging civil society, and UNESCO, "to do everything so that the future will be one of a dialogue of cultures" and above all "to build peace on earth."

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