THE FINANCIAL CRISIS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

VATICAN CITY, 10 MAR 2010 (VIS) - On 3 March, Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi C.S., Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations in Geneva, addressed the thirteenth ordinary session of the UN Human Rights Council, which was meeting to discuss the world economic and financial crisis.

  Before beginning his talk, the archbishop expressed his delegation's "condolences and solidarity to the people of Chile for the victims of the recent earthquake".

  Speaking English, the nuncio then went on to reaffirm the Holy See's "conviction that the perspective of human rights provides a positive contribution for a solution to the current financial crisis". This situation "calls for new regulations and a sound global system of governance that ensures a sustainable and comprehensive path to development for all", he said.

  Among the negative consequences of the financial crisis, the archbishop mentioned "the scandal of hunger, growing worldwide inequality, millions of unemployed people and millions of others reduced to extreme poverty, ... lack of social protection for countless vulnerable persons". He also recalled words used by Benedict XVI in his Encyclical "Caritas in Veritate" to the effect that these imbalances "are produced when economic action, conceived merely as an engine for wealth creation, is detached from political action, conceived as a means for pursuing justice through redistribution".

  "In fact", Archbishop Tomasi went on, "the common goal is the protection and respect of human dignity that binds together the entire human family. ... In this context, the review of the Human Rights Council should aim also at making change on the ground a reality, and the concrete implementation of human rights its priority".

  "The social doctrine of the Church has always pursued such a goal with special care for the more vulnerable members of society. In fact, by giving priority to human beings and the created order that supports them on their earthly journey, we can modify the rules that govern the financial system to serve concrete change, to move away from old habits of greed that led to the present crisis, and to promote effective integral development and the implementation of human rights since 'the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is the human person in his or her integrity'".
DELSS/HUMAN RIGHTS/TOMASI                    VIS 20100310 (380)