Statement by H.E. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United
Nations
Final Arms Trade Treaty
Conference
United Nations
Headquarters, New York 2 April 2013
Mr. President,
On the occasion
of the adoption of this treaty, my delegation wishes to reaffirm its commitment
to the overarching principles that have guided its positions at this Conference:
·
The
arms trade cannot be regarded as a legitimate economic pursuit like any other. No
transfer of arms is ever to be considered morally indifferent. Such transfers
require rigorous evaluation on the basis of ethical criteria founded in human
dignity and the promoting of the common good.
·
Paramount
in all instances of the transfer of arms must be the duty to avoid or reduce to a minimum all human suffering and
loss of life. The connection between violence and arms is more than merely
incidental. The suffering of victims requires that all assistance be made
available to them.
·
Arbitrary
arms transfers remain a grave threat to peace and development, particularly in
poorer regions of the world. Justice and peace are the essential preconditions
for genuine human development and constitute the most effective means to
promote international peace and security. Accordingly, the link between
disarmament and development requires that the maximum human and material
resources be directed into development.
Read more here
Press Release- 25th March 2013
The Holy See Calls for States to Adopt a Human-Centered Arms Trade Treaty
New York, NY, March 25, 2013 – In these last four days of deliberations of the United Nations Conference on the Final Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty – to prohibit the transfer of arms when violations of humanitarian or human rights law are taking place - the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and the Holy See’s Head of Delegation to the Final Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, His Excellency Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, urges delegations to work together in a consensual manner to achieve a historic treaty to control the international trade in arms.
Read more here
Statement of the Holy See on the Agreed Conclusions (E.CN.6/2013/…)
57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women of the United
Nations Economic and Social Council
New York, 15 March 2013
Madam
Chair,
My delegation wishes to express its thanks to you and
your bureau for the effort you have expended during this session of the
Commission.
As we reaffirmed in our statement to the Plenary of
this session, my delegation remains committed to eliminating the “violence
perpetrated against women and girls ... through education, the support of women
who are victims to violence; and more widely, to promote a culture of respect
for every human being without distinction.”
Read the rest of the statement here
Intervention of the Holy See
Commission on Status of Women (CSW) – 57th
Session
(New York,
4-15 March 2013)
Madame Chair,
This year’s choice
of this important topic underlines the tragic reality of the continued
victimization of women and girls around the world by myriad forms of
exploitation and violence, in a shameful continuum, ranging from sex-selective
abortions, female infanticide, abandonment, trafficking, rape, domestic abuse,
rape as a weapon of war, forced prostitution, to misguided government policies
unduly restricting the number of children per family and other forms of
violence. Many women and girls, from the moment of conception until natural
death, face an array of immoral and dehumanizing acts of violence. In addition,
degrading practices, such as female genital mutilation, child marriage, forced
sterilization and forced abortions, characterize this continuum and constitute heinous forms of oppression trampling upon the
dignity of women and girls. This reality demands that Governments as well as
all societal institutions undertake concerted and comprehensive efforts to
address this grave problem.
Read the rest of the Intervention here.
Mons. Vincenzo Paglia
President, Pontifical
Council for the Family
The Family as a Resource for Society
The 20th
anniversary of the United Nations International Year of the Family
The 30th
anniversary of the Holy See’s Charter of the Rights of the Family
It
is an honor and a pleasure to address you in this Event being conducted under
the auspices of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC) in preparation for the Twentieth Anniversary of the
International Year of the Family. I offer my sincere thanks to His Excellency,
the Most Reverend Francis A. Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to
the United Nations, for all he has done to make this Event possible.
As
the Department has emphasized, the Anniversary is an “opportunity to refocus on the role of families in development; take
stock of recent trends in family policy development; share good practices in
family policy making; review challenges faced by families worldwide and
recommend solutions.”
Read the rest of the speech here.