IN BRIEF

MSGR. FRANCESCO FOLLO, HEAD OF THE HOLY SEE DELEGATION to the 33rd general conference of UNESCO, spoke on the subject of bioethics, education, freedom and justice in an address delivered to the conference on October 10. "Today," he said, "we find ourselves in a new situation in which mankind, faced with the temptation to treat human beings as simple research material, could place the whole future of the species in danger." Hence, he affirmed, "the main reason for which bioethics must exist is itself ethical." On the subject of education, Msgr. Follo stressed that it "must have ever more ambitious goals, and form individuals to be free and responsible, especially in their affective and social behavior."

MADE PUBLIC TODAY WAS A MESSAGE TO MUSLIMS for the end of Ramadan. Entitled, "Continuing on the Path of Dialogue," it bears the signature of Archbishop Michael Louis Fitzgerald M. Afr., president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. "Let us," the conclusion of the message reads, "as Christians and Muslims, show that we can live together in true fraternity, striving always to do the will of merciful God, Who created humanity to be one family."

ARCHBISHOP CELESTINO MIGLIORE, HOLY SEE PERMANENT OBSERVER TO THE UN, participated yesterday in the third committee on the theme: "Implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women and of the special session of the General Assembly entitled 'Woman 2000: gender equality, development and peace in the twenty-first century." Archbishop Migliore stressed how the Holy See "recognizes the need to address urgently specific health care needs of women. We know that many women today still do not have access even to basic health care." In another discourse, the permanent observer spoke on the right to information and its importance in the life of democratic societies and institutions.
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