multilateral foreign policy of the Holy See

The multilateral foreign policy of the Holy See is particularly active on some issues, such as human rights, disarmament, and economic and social development which are dealt with in international fora.

Human rights

The Holy See promotes a natural law approach to Human Rights. While commenting on the Human Rights Council report, the Holy See argued that those rights "are based on the inherent dignity of the human person, and these inalienable rights are founded in the natural moral order, and they are discernible through right reason which is universal. My Delegation must be candid: human rights do not change any more than human nature can change."^[1]

Freedom of conscience and religion

Following Vatican Council II,^[2] the Holy See has uphold, at the international level, the centrality of the freedom of conscience and religion among all Human Rights^[3] since, in its view, those freedoms impinge on essence of the Human person.^[4] Pope Benedict XVI noted that "religious freedom expresses what is unique about the human person, for it allows us to direct our personal and social life to God, in whose light the identity, meaning and purpose of the person are fully understood. To deny or arbitrarily restrict this freedom is to foster a reductive vision of the human person; to eclipse the public role of religion is to create a society which is unjust, inasmuch as it fails to take account of the true nature of the human person; it is to stifle the growth of the authentic and lasting peace of the whole human family."^[5] Thus, the respect for freedom of religion is at the basis of the respect for all other human rights.^[6] Consequently, the Holy See has called upon States to comply with their international commitments to respect those rights. It has stated:

Recognition of the dignity of each and every person, which the Human Rights Council was formed to protect and promote, entails full respect for the inner and transcendent dimension of the human person, which is an integral part of what it means to be a human being. Through the free exercise of conscience and moral decision making, human beings are able to transform themselves into living members of social life whose good will, charity and hope promote the dignity and wellbeing of every member of the human family. Intrinsically linked to freedom of conscience is the freedom of religion by which human beings are able to pursue the most important relationship of their life, that is, their relationship with God. Freedom of religion necessarily entails the freedom to ascribe to a set of beliefs, to adopt or change one’s religion, to profess one’s faith and to practice fully that faith openly and publicly. Governments have a solemn responsibility to safeguard rather than ridicule this inalienable right. Since the State is not the author of any fundamental human right, it must respect that intimate and fundamental sanctuary of human freedom, the conscience, and to allow each conscience its fullest and highest expression in the free exercise of religious faith.^[7]

In parallel, the Holy See condemns the violation to the freedom of religion, specially when suffered by christians:

It is painful to think that in some areas of the world it is impossible to profess one’s religion freely except at the risk of life and personal liberty. In other areas we see more subtle and sophisticated forms of prejudice and hostility towards believers and religious symbols. At present, Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of its faith. Many Christians experience daily affronts and often live in fear because of their pursuit of truth, their faith in Jesus Christ and their heartfelt plea for respect for religious freedom. This situation is unacceptable, since it represents an insult to God and to human dignity; furthermore, it is a threat to security and peace, and an obstacle to the achievement of authentic and integral human development.^[8]

In this context, the Holy See has stressed the duty of both governments and private individuals "to promote tolerance, mutual understanding and respect among the followers of the various faith traditions."^[9] At the same time, the Holy See has condemned religious fanaticism and violence as a pervention of the freedom of religion,^[10] as well as "every form of hostility to religion that would restrict the public role of believers in civil and political life."^[11]

Right to life

Abortion

Euthanasia

Human cloning

Death penalty

Sexual and reproductive rights

Traditional family

Sexual orientation

Responsible sexual behavior

Family planning

International peace and security

Promoting international peace

Terrorism

Disarmament

Development and international aid

Strengthening the international system

Footnotes

^ H.E. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Statement on the Report of the Human Rights Council, New York, 3 November 2010.
^ Vatican Council II, Declaration of Religious Freedom 'Dignitatis Humanae', 7 December 1965, para. 2:
This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits. The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself. This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right.
^ Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 5: "It could be said that among the fundamental rights and freedoms rooted in the dignity of the person, religious freedom enjoys a special status. When religious freedom is acknowledged, the dignity of the human person is respected at its root, and the ethos and institutions of peoples are strengthened. On the other hand, whenever religious freedom is denied, and attempts are made to hinder people from professing their religion or faith and living accordingly, human dignity is offended, with a resulting threat to justice and peace, which are grounded in that right social order established in the light of Supreme Truth and Supreme Goodness."
^ Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 2:
The right to religious freedom is rooted in the very dignity of the human person, whose transcendent nature must not be ignored or overlooked. God created man and woman in his own image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27). For this reason each person is endowed with the sacred right to a full life, also from a spiritual standpoint. Without the acknowledgement of his spiritual being, without openness to the transcendent, the human person withdraws within himself, fails to find answers to the heart’s deepest questions about life’s meaning, fails to appropriate lasting ethical values and principles, and fails even to experience authentic freedom and to build a just society.
^ Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 1.
^ Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 3:
Religious freedom is at the origin of moral freedom. Openness to truth and perfect goodness, openness to God, is rooted in human nature; it confers full dignity on each individual and is the guarantee of full mutual respect between persons. Religious freedom should be understood, then, not merely as immunity from coercion, but even more fundamentally as an ability to order one’s own choices in accordance with truth. Freedom and respect are inseparable; indeed, “in exercising their rights, individuals and social groups are bound by the moral law to have regard for the rights of others, their own duties to others and the common good of all”(Vatican Council II, Declaration of Religious Freedom 'Dignitatis Humanae', 7 December 1965, para. 7.).
^ H.E. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Statement on the Report of the Human Rights Council, New York, 3 November 2010.
^ Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 1.
^ H.E. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Statement on the Report of the Human Rights Council, New York, 3 November 2010.
^ Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 7:
The exploitation of religious freedom to disguise hidden interests, such as the subversion of the established order, the hoarding of resources or the grip on power of a single group, can cause enormous harm to societies. Fanaticism, fundamentalism and practices contrary to human dignity can never be justified, even less so in the name of religion. The profession of a religion cannot be exploited or imposed by force. States and the various human communities must never forget that religious freedom is the condition for the pursuit of truth, and truth does not impose itself by violence but “by the force of its own truth”
^ Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 7:
It should be clear that religious fundamentalism and secularism are alike in that both represent extreme forms of a rejection of legitimate pluralism and the principle of secularity. Both absolutize a reductive and partial vision of the human person, favouring in the one case forms of religious integralism and, in the other, of rationalism. A society that would violently impose or, on the contrary, reject religion is not only unjust to individuals and to God, but also to itself. God beckons humanity with a loving plan that, while engaging the whole person in his or her natural and spiritual dimensions, calls for a free and responsible answer which engages the whole heart and being, individual and communitarian. Society too, as an expression of the person and of all his or her constitutive dimensions, must live and organize itself in a way that favours openness to transcendence. Precisely for this reason, the laws and institutions of a society cannot be shaped in such a way as to ignore the religious dimension of its citizens or to prescind completely from it. Through the democratic activity of citizens conscious of their lofty calling, those laws and institutions must adequately reflect the authentic nature of the person and support its religious dimension. Since the latter is not a creation of the state, it cannot be manipulated by the state, but must rather be acknowledged and respected by it. Whenever the legal system at any level, national or international, allows or tolerates religious or antireligious fanaticism, it fails in its mission, which is to protect and promote justice and the rights of all.

[1] H.E. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Statement on the Report of the Human Rights Council, New York, 3 November 2010.

[2] Vatican Council II, Declaration of Religious Freedom 'Dignitatis Humanae', 7 December 1965, para. 2:
This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits. The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself. This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right.

[3] Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 5: "It could be said that among the fundamental rights and freedoms rooted in the dignity of the person, religious freedom enjoys a special status. When religious freedom is acknowledged, the dignity of the human person is respected at its root, and the ethos and institutions of peoples are strengthened. On the other hand, whenever religious freedom is denied, and attempts are made to hinder people from professing their religion or faith and living accordingly, human dignity is offended, with a resulting threat to justice and peace, which are grounded in that right social order established in the light of Supreme Truth and Supreme Goodness."

[4] Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 2:
The right to religious freedom is rooted in the very dignity of the human person, whose transcendent nature must not be ignored or overlooked. God created man and woman in his own image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27). For this reason each person is endowed with the sacred right to a full life, also from a spiritual standpoint. Without the acknowledgement of his spiritual being, without openness to the transcendent, the human person withdraws within himself, fails to find answers to the heart’s deepest questions about life’s meaning, fails to appropriate lasting ethical values and principles, and fails even to experience authentic freedom and to build a just society.

[5] Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 1.

[6] Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 3:
Religious freedom is at the origin of moral freedom. Openness to truth and perfect goodness, openness to God, is rooted in human nature; it confers full dignity on each individual and is the guarantee of full mutual respect between persons. Religious freedom should be understood, then, not merely as immunity from coercion, but even more fundamentally as an ability to order one’s own choices in accordance with truth. Freedom and respect are inseparable; indeed, “in exercising their rights, individuals and social groups are bound by the moral law to have regard for the rights of others, their own duties to others and the common good of all”(Vatican Council II, Declaration of Religious Freedom 'Dignitatis Humanae', 7 December 1965, para. 7.).

[7] H.E. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Statement on the Report of the Human Rights Council, New York, 3 November 2010.

[8] Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 1.

[9] H.E. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Statement on the Report of the Human Rights Council, New York, 3 November 2010.

[10] Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 7:
The exploitation of religious freedom to disguise hidden interests, such as the subversion of the established order, the hoarding of resources or the grip on power of a single group, can cause enormous harm to societies. Fanaticism, fundamentalism and practices contrary to human dignity can never be justified, even less so in the name of religion. The profession of a religion cannot be exploited or imposed by force. States and the various human communities must never forget that religious freedom is the condition for the pursuit of truth, and truth does not impose itself by violence but “by the force of its own truth”

[11] Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace: Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace, 1 Jan 2011, para. 7:
It should be clear that religious fundamentalism and secularism are alike in that both represent extreme forms of a rejection of legitimate pluralism and the principle of secularity. Both absolutize a reductive and partial vision of the human person, favouring in the one case forms of religious integralism and, in the other, of rationalism. A society that would violently impose or, on the contrary, reject religion is not only unjust to individuals and to God, but also to itself. God beckons humanity with a loving plan that, while engaging the whole person in his or her natural and spiritual dimensions, calls for a free and responsible answer which engages the whole heart and being, individual and communitarian. Society too, as an expression of the person and of all his or her constitutive dimensions, must live and organize itself in a way that favours openness to transcendence. Precisely for this reason, the laws and institutions of a society cannot be shaped in such a way as to ignore the religious dimension of its citizens or to prescind completely from it. Through the democratic activity of citizens conscious of their lofty calling, those laws and institutions must adequately reflect the authentic nature of the person and support its religious dimension. Since the latter is not a creation of the state, it cannot be manipulated by the state, but must rather be acknowledged and respected by it. Whenever the legal system at any level, national or international, allows or tolerates religious or antireligious fanaticism, it fails in its mission, which is to protect and promote justice and the rights of all.

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