By Holy See Mission
Statement of the Holy See in Explanation of Positionon the General
Assembly Resolution “Interfaith Harmony Week”A/RES/65/5
65th session of the UN General AssemblyNew York, 20 October
2010
Mr. President,
My delegation takes this opportunity to thank the delegation of
Jordan for having brought forward a resolution on promoting goodwill among
religions in order to advance a culture of peace.
For several years now the United Nations has taken up
consideration of this agenda item: over ten years ago Member States adopted the
“Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace” (A/53/243) and not
long thereafter adopted the first resolution on “Promotion of religious and
cultural understanding, harmony and cooperation” (A/58/128).
The creation of a culture of peace among the peoples of the
world is not a task to be taken lightly: all persons have a responsibility, each
and every day, to promote peace, tolerance and mutual respect among all persons
of the various religious traditions. Setting aside a week in the coming year
for the purpose of raising consciousness regarding our common commitment in this
regard certainly highlights the importance of this responsibility and can be
instrumental in concretely translating love of God into love of neighbor which
means not only those of our own religious tradition but each and every person
because everyone has dignity and value.
Mr. President,
My delegation commends the manner in which the Mission of Jordan
carried out consultations regarding the present draft resolution. Some of my
delegation’s proposals were taken into consideration. At the same time, however,
my delegation hoped that the Resolution should have focused more on the
importance of dialogue among religions at the institutional and authoritative
level.
In this regard, for example, one thinks of
the various formal responses to A
Common Word between Us and You, including the Catholic-Muslim Forum, which is an
ongoing initiative in which many scholars of both religions have been meeting on
a regular basis to advance interreligious dialogue. Moreover, the Resolution
does not express clearly the difference between “faith” at a personal level and
“religion” at a more institutional level. In this sense, my delegation would
have liked the title of the Resolution changed from “World Interfaith Harmony
Week” to “Worldwide Week of Interreligious Dialogue / Understanding” or
“Worldwide Week of Interreligious and Interfaith Dialogue”. So also, my
delegation would have preferred the word “interreligious” in the text instead of
“interfaith” and the misleading word “harmony” replaced with “dialogue / respect
/ tolerance”.
Mr. President,
Respect for religious and cultural diversity in an increasingly
globalized world contributes to international cooperation and promotes enhanced
dialogue among religions and persons. On the occasion of the adoption of the
text before us, my delegation takes this opportunity to reaffirm its ongoing
commitment to promoting mutual understanding, respect, dialogue and
collaboration between Catholics and the followers of all other religious
traditions.
Thank you, Mr. President.
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