THE DISABLED HAVE RIGHTS AND DUTIES LIKE EVERYONE ELSE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 20, 2003 (VIS) - Archbishop Celestino Milgiore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, spoke yesterday in New York to the Ad Hoc Committee on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

"The person with disabilities has every right to be a subject and an active agent in the everyday affairs of human existence. These persons are rich in humanity. Each has rights and duties like every other human being."

The permanent observer to the U.N. emphasized that "solidarity with the disabled will also ensure furthering of the common good. And it is the common good which fosters a proper relationship among all peoples so that true justice may be achieved."

After recalling that 27 years have passed since the U.N.'s Declaration on the Rights of the Disabled, the archbishop stated that "much has changed and there have been many advances in science, access, acceptance, health care, understanding and hope."

At the end of his speech, Archbishop Migliore recalled John Paul II's words during the Jubilee of the Disabled in December of 2000: "In a society rich in scientific and technical knowledge it is possible and necessary to do more in the various ways required by civil coexistence: from biomedical research for preventing disabilities, to treatment, assistance, rehabilitation and new social integration."

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