Saturday, May 29, 2010

Pope: the future rests on the meeting of peoples and the recognition of their rights

The future of our societies “rests on relations between peoples, a dialogue between cultures that respects the identity of legitimate differences” and therefore the recognition of the rights of the person, including those of migrants.

In this way, "the various organizations of an international nature, in cooperation with each other and with States, can provide their particular contribution to reconciling, in various ways, the recognition of the rights of the person and the principle of national sovereignty, with specific reference to the demands of security, public order and border control".

An audience with the participants at the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People gave to Benedict XVI the opportunity today to reaffirm the principles and guidelines that international organizations, States and communities as a whole should follow when faced with the growing global phenomenon of migration.

Analyzing the theme of the meeting, "The Pastoral Care of Human Mobility today in the context of co-responsibility with States and International Organizations”, the Pope first expressed appreciation for the effort to "build a system of shared norms to cover the rights and obligations of the foreigner, as well as those of host communities, taking into account, firstly, the dignity of every human person created by God in His image and likeness.

Obviously, - he underlined - the acquisition of rights goes hand in hand with the acceptance of duties". "Everyone, in fact, has rights and duties which are not arbitrary, because they spring from human nature itself." Rights and responsibilities are therefore “universal, inviolable and inalienable”.

"The forced entry or removal of foreigners, the use of resources of nature, culture and art, science and technology, which should be accessible to all” are issues that call into question the responsibility of States and International organizations. "One must not forget the important role of mediation, so that national and international resolutions, which promote the universal common good, may be welcomed by local authorities and are reflected in everyday life".

And while it is true that, unfortunately, we witness the resurgence of particularistic demands in some areas of the world”, "it is also true that is a reluctance to assume responsibilities that should be shared. Furthermore, there desire is still alive in many to break down walls and establish broad agreement, even through legislation and administrative practices that promote integration, mutual exchange and shared enrichment. Indeed, prospects for peaceful coexistence can be offered through concerted and prudent guidelines for reception and integration, allowing opportunities for legal entry, favouring the just right to family reunification, asylum and refuge, compensating necessary restrictive measures and combating scourge of human trafficking".

Fundamental human rights, in conclusion, "can be the focal point of the commitment to the shared responsibility of national and international institutions. Moreover it is closely related to openness to life, which is at the heart of true development ', as I emphasized in the Encyclical Caritas in veritate (cf. n. 28), where I also appealed to States to promote policies in favour the centrality and integrity of the family (cf. ibid., 44).

On the other hand, it is clear that openness to life and rights of the family must be repeated in different contexts, so that ‘in an increasingly globalised society, the common good and the effort to obtain it cannot fail to assume the dimensions of the whole human family, that is to say, the community of peoples and nations' (ibid., 7).

SIC: AN