Vatican City, Dec 4, 2007 / 07:58 am
On Monday morning in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received members of Catholic-inspired Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), who are gathered to reflect on what they can offer, as a solution to the “many problems and challenges associated with the various activities of the United Nations and other international and regional organizations." In response to this quagmire, the Pope pinpointed the problem of their debates being governed by a relativistic logic.
The Holy Father began by noting that, despite their different backgrounds, the delegates share "a passion for promoting human dignity. This same passion has constantly inspired the activity of the Holy See in the international community," he said.
In this context, the Pope examined the question of international cooperation between governments, noting "with satisfaction ... achievements such as the universal recognition of the juridical and political primacy of human rights, ... the efforts being made to develop a just global economy and, more recently, the protection of the environment and the promotion of inter- cultural dialogue."
However, the Pope lamented that “international discussions often seem marked by a relativistic logic which would consider as the sole guarantee of peaceful coexistence between peoples a refusal to admit the truth about man and his dignity, to say nothing of the possibility of ethics based on recognition of the natural moral law.”