01/01/2004

Pope wants new international order to keep peace
Says UN must be given power to ensure solutions to today�s problems

VATICAN CITY: Pope John Paul II urged on Thursday the creation of a �new international order� based on the experience and know-how of the United Nations.

Without directly mentioning the diplomatic storm caused by the US-led invasion of Iraq, the head of the Roman Catholic Church made it clear he considers that the UN must be given the power and authority to �ensure adequate solutions to today�s problems�.

Among world leaders, the pope was one of the most passionately opposed to the war.

John Paul II, who is 83, was concelebrating a mass in St. Peter�s basilica marking World Peace Day, which the Roman Catholic Church observes every New Year�s Day.

Assisted by the Vatican�s Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and the head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Renato Martino, he appeared in good form, despite his slurred speech due to Parkinson�s disease.

The mass was attended by members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, the pope�s government, and a congregation of about 6,000 people.

After the religious service, the pope addressed an estimated 30,000 pilgrims in St. Peter�s Square, wishing them in several languages from the window of his study �a year of prosperity and peace.�

Among the crowd were about 10,000 people who had taken part in a march for peace organized by the Sant�Egidio Community, a Roman Catholic organization that works for dialogue and peace.

In his homily during the mass, the pope said a new international order needed to be based on �the dignity of the human person, on the integral development of society, on solidarity between rich and poor countries and on the sharing of resources and the extraordinary results supplied by scientific and technological progress.�

The pope also paid homage to Irish Archbishop Michael Courtney, the Holy See�s ambassador to Burundi, who was killed in an ambush in the central African country early this week.

�He was a witness to the gospel and to peace� who carried out �a mission to promote dialogue and reconciliation,� the pope said.

John Paul II was amplifying on the detailed document he issued two weeks ago for reflection on peace day in churches around the world. In that document he said the United Nations should be elevated from �the cold status of an administrative institution� to a �moral center� in which all nations could find themselves at home.

The pope said that for all its faults, due largely to the failure of some its members, the United Nations �has made a notable contribution to the promotion of respect for human dignity, the freedom of peoples and the requirements of development.�

He said states must consider the creation of a new international order, based on justice, as �a clear moral and political obligation.�

In his message, the pope also criticized the use of force as the only response to terrorism, stressing the need to deal with the underlying causes of it, and calling for sanctions against governments that violate human dignity and rights on �the unacceptable pretext that it is a matter of questions internal to their state.�

At the same time, he told democratic leaders that they must realize that �the use of force against terrorists cannot justify a renunciation of the principles of the rule of law.�

Violations of human rights were unacceptable �since the end never justifies the means,� he said. �AFP