CARDINAL SODANO EXPRESSES HOLY SEE SUPPORT FOR U.N. ROLE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 20, 2003 (VIS) - Made public today was the June 5th Letter from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of State, to United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, in which he expressed "the Holy See's support for the fundamental role of the U.N. at the present time."
"The recent Security Council Resolution 1483 (2003) regarding the rebuilding of the institutions and the economy of Iraq," the Letter began, "can be considered the beginning of a reconfirmation of the validity of the mission of the United Nations Organization as stipulated by the Charter of 1945.

"As you know," wrote Cardinal Sodano, "the Popes have spoken on various occasions of the need for an international and independent authority capable of serving not only as a mediator in potential conflicts but also as a guide for all humanity, leading the human family in peace towards the rule of law."

He added that "the Holy See is confident that the United Nations Organization will be able to develop more efficient and concerted forms of cooperation which will enable world leaders to join in combatting situations of injustice and oppression, leading to hostility between peoples, (and in) building that 'family of nations' of which Pope John Paul II spoke in 1995."

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