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Skriven 2006-10-02 18:35:58 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service - Press Release
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                               VIS-Press releases

DIPLOMATS: ARTISANS OF PEACE AND SINCERE DIALOGUE

VATICAN CITY, SEP 29, 2006 (VIS) - Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of
State, received the members of the diplomatic corps to the Holy See at noon
today, in the Duke's Hall, in the Vatican.

During his first meeting with the diplomats, Cardinal Bertone was pleased with
the shows of friendliness and the messages received for his appointment this
past September 15.

He assured that the world hopes that the diplomats will be "artisans of peace,
men of law, reason, sincere dialogue and promote a renewed impulse of
solidarity between peoples, especially in rethinking the problem of debts of
the poorest countries, so that no longer will any person, especially children,
die of hunger or endemic illnesses, no longer will people be innocent victims
of wars or local conflicts, nor poorly treated because of their convictions or
beliefs".

"Our main preoccupation - he continued - must be the dignity, the freedom and
the unconditional respect of all human beings as to his fundamental rights, in
particular his freedom of conscience and religion".

Cardinal Bertone stated that "As diplomats, they are particularly attentive to
these sensitive problems founds throughout the world. I am thinking especially
about all forms of violence inflicted on women, children born and to be born.
The defense of life, from its conception to its natural end, as well as the
defense of the family based on marriage, are also essential themes in social
life".

The Cardinal mentioned the areas where the greatest difficulties lie,
"difficulty of the bond between the prophetic aspect and the concrete
necessities of life - which must also be considered by a humane ethos,
especially in the context of violence, private or organized, marked also by the
plurality of opinions confronting each other".

These domains include "social defense to guarantee the objective order and the
defense of human rights; the condemnation of war, on the ethical level and its
exclusion as a means to resolve possible differences between nations; security,
favoring the non -military members and in turn reinforce the political,
economic and social structures; disarmament, which must include all types of
weapons, and thus become a generality, also including the objective of
'unilateral disarmament', which contains a great ethical and positive value".

He continued saying that "Research by intellectuals and reflection by the
organisms of the Church and Christian communities must never stop looking at
these themes".

"The documents of the Holy See, and above all those of the Magisterium of the
post-war Popes - the Secretary of State concluded - are not texts lightly read,
or even worse, to be ignored. These are texts which must be read carefully and
meditated upon, so that the ideas may be translated into practical acts, and
that the world may recognize the force and actuality of the Christian message
(...) with which the Christians act in favor of peace, today, for all men".
SS/PEACE:HUMAN RIGHTS/BERTONE VIS 060929 (490)

SUMMARY

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