Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, speaks at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly on human rights policy, UN reform, and the dangers of nuclear escalation. He called on the international community to put public interests above local interests.
(Vatican News Network) Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, made a speech at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, analyzing the critical situation in the world, expressing that the Holy See is worried about the intensification of the conflict and its consequences. The cardinal spoke at length about the dangers of nuclear escalation, calling for reform of the United Nations based on a future of security and peace.
Card Parolin started by talking about the attempts of some countries to impose controversial policies in the field of human rights. Rather, human rights “are universal, objective, and firmly rooted in the sacred dignity of man.” Human rights include “the right to life, and the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression”.
Next, Card Parolin pointed out that the number of hungry people in the world has risen to 828 million in 2021 and that it is time to end the “hypocrisy of armaments” and to “talk about peace” and “not to live by arms” . The cardinal called for investment in education, which is “the main path of human development as a whole”.
Talking about the reform of the United Nations, Card Parolin pointed out that the reform process of the United Nations must extend beyond the General Assembly, so that those institutions with effective implementation capacity, such as the Security Council, are also reformed. Card Parolin went on to stress that the permanent members, in particular, bear a great responsibility for maintaining world peace and order.
“When there is no shared vision or political will for peaceful coexistence, and the guardians of peace themselves ignore the rules they claim to uphold, they themselves become perpetrators of gross injustice. As a result, the system was severely damaged and at risk.”
Therefore, the cardinal calls for putting the public good above local interests for “a safe and happy future”.
In addition, the war in Ukraine “has exacerbated already worrying global trends, including soaring food and fuel prices and rising displacement”. “The conflict has also led to the danger of nuclear escalation, which the public conscience has not been aware of for decades,” said Card Parolin.
Attention should be paid to the poor, who “will face survival choices such as heating and food”. Concerted and urgent action is needed because “war in Ukraine not only threatens the nuclear non-proliferation regime, it also exposes us to the dangers of the devastation that nuclear weapons can cause, whether through nuclear escalation or by accident”.
Card Parolin concluded that “any threat of the use of nuclear weapons is repulsive and should be unequivocally condemned”.
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