HOLY SEE ADDRESSES U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

VATICAN CITY, APR 9, 2003 (VIS) - Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, apostolic nuncio and Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations Office in Geneva, is the head of the Holy See delegation to the 59th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The meeting, currently underway in this Swiss city, began on March 17 and ends on April 25.

Archbishop Martin has spoken to the assembly on three occasions since the meeting began. On March 25 he addressed Item 6 on the agenda: Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination. He noted that since the 2001 Durban World Conference on this subject, "the community of nations still seems to have difficulty in addressing racism. It is as if some deep-seated fear or social inhibition prevents us from addressing this widely pervasive phenomenon with serenity and objectivity." He said that "new forms of division and exclusion, intolerance and hatred have emerged," adding that the best way to fight these is through education. "The racist hatred of today must not be passed on, not even one generation further. We must find ways to educate future generations to a different vision of human relations, one which corresponds to the truth concerning the unity of mankind."

On April 7 the nuncio spoke to the Human Rights Commission on Agenda Item 10, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - Extreme Poverty in the Era of Globalization. He remarked that "the concentration and intensity of extreme poverty in certain regions of the world are among the most potent symbols of the unacceptable inequalities which still exist in our world today. Inclusion should be a distinguishing mark of a human rights approach to poverty reduction, an approach which stresses the indivisibility and universality of human rights, through placing the integral dignity of each human person and the unity of the family of humankind at its center."

Archbishop Martin's third address focussed on Item 11, Civil and Political Rights - Religious Intolerance. He observed that the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief had drawn attention to Pope John Paul's call for dialogue among religions in the service to peace, and to the signing of the Assisi Decalogue for Peace on January 24, 2002. The archbishop recalled that "this Decalogue sets out some basic components which should belong to a dialogue among religions, including affirmation of the fact that violence and terrorism are opposed to all true religious spirit; education about respect and mutual esteem among members of different ethnic groups, cultures and peoples; recognition of the fact that facing difference can become an occasion for greater reciprocal understanding; pardon for errors and prejudices of the present and the past; promotion of a culture of dialogue, open to understanding and trust."

"Religious leaders," he stated, "have a special responsibility to strongly reaffirm ' whenever possible together ' that attempts to use religious sentiments to generate division, or to use religion as an excuse for violence or terrorism cannot be reconciled with any true religious spirit. A precondition for this affirmation will be to ensure that believers avoid any temptation to stereotype or misrepresent other religions and their beliefs."

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