HOLY SEE BECOMES EXTRA-REGIONAL OBSERVER OF CENTRAL AMERICAN INTEGRATION SYSTEM

Vatican City, 23 January 2013 (VIS) – According to information made public by the Press Office of the Holy See today, on Monday, 21 January, at the headquarters of the Central American Integration System (SICA) in San Salvador, El Salvador, an agreement was signed between the Holy See and SICA that makes the Holy See an extra-regional observer of that organization. The signatories were, for the Holy See, Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto, apostolic nuncio to El Salvador and, for SICA, Juan Daniel Aleman, secretary general of SICA. Many ambassadors to the nations of the South American continent attended the ceremony.

Previously, the Ordinary Summit of heads of state and government of the countries of SICA, which took place in Managua, Nicaragua, this past December, had welcomed the Holy See's interest in participating in SICA as an extra-regional observer owing to the contribution that the Holy See and the Catholic Church offer to development in the social, cultural, and educational sectors as well as those of human rights and democratic security.