Robert John Araujo and John A. Lucal S.J. - Papal Diplomacy and the Quest for Peace: The United Nations from Pius XII to Paul VI

Robert John Araujo, S.J.

John A. Lucal, S.J.

S AINT J OSEPHS U NIVERSITY P RESS

P HILADELPHIA, P ENNSYLVANIA

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Printed in the United States of America at Saint Josephs University Press, on the campus of Saint Josephs University, Philadelphia.

Book design: Carol McLaughlin

Cover photo: Visit of His Holiness Pope Paul VI to the United Nations, October 4, 1965. UN photo used with permission.

ISBN 978-0-916101-64-0

eISBN 978-1-945402-11-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Araujo, Robert John.

Papal diplomacy and the quest for peace. The United Nations from Pius XII to Paul VI / Robert John Araujo, John A. Lucal.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-916101-64-0

1. Church and international organizationCatholic ChurchHistory20th century. 2. United NationsHistory20th century. 3. Catholic ChurchForeign relations. I. Lucal, John A. II. Title.

BX1793.A68 2010

327.4563400904dc22

2010030390

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The Holy See has a long and intricate history of papal diplomacy vis--vis international organizations that spans centuries. Our first volume was designed to examine the relationship of the Holy Sees involvement with the League of Nations and concluded with the end of the Papacy of Pope Pius XI in 1939. The current and second volume explores the early relationship between the Holy See and the United Nations through the conclusion of the Papacy of Pope Paul VI in 1978. A projected third volume will examine Vatican/UN issues during the Papacy of Pope John Paul II.

Although this inquiry began almost thirty-five years ago when one of the authors, John Lucal, commenced his study of papal diplomacy and the Holy Sees participation in the world of international organizations, our joint effort was designed to examine the Holy Sees interest in the development and maintenance of international organizations with particular emphasis on the League of Nations and the United Nations.

As was mentioned in the preface to our first volume, both authors have had the privilege of working for and representing the Holy See in the environment of the United Nations and, to some lesser extent, other international organizations. Our investigation has been influenced not only by our academic study of papal diplomacy and its relations with international organizations, but also by our participation in the activities of the Holy See within some of these organizations. Based on our academic research and our related practical experience, we are of the opinion that it is essential for the Church to continue her engagement with temporal powers and organizations of the world. This is a point which His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI reiterated in one of his earliest public statements after he became Pope in the spring of 2005 when he met the diplomatic community accredited to the Holy See.transcendental nature of the Holy See and the temporal nature of the United Nations may result.

In essence, the Holy See retains at its foundation a spiritual mission that is concerned with the integral good of every human being. In the context of international organizations in relation to nations (peoples) and States, the principle of subsidiarity restrains the meta-State from interfering improperly with the legitimate sovereignty of peoples and States.

While individual rights and the protection of the human person are concerns shared by the UN and the Holy See [albeit with disagreement as to who is entitled to these rights

the Holy See has not been reluctant to state its morally grounded positions on pressing contemporary issues [such as family planning, abortion, human embryonic cloning, and what is constitutive of the family, the basic unit of society] that have not always been congruent with those of temporal sovereigns and international organizations, including the UN.

For example, in his October 1965 address to the General Assembly, Pope Paul VI asserted respect for all human life when he stated, Your task is to ensure that there is enough bread on the tables of mankind, and not to encourage an artificial birth control, which would be irrational in order to diminish the number of guests at the banquet of life.

This kind of unenthusiastic view expressed in 1965 about the Churchs position on particular issues continues in the present day of the early twenty-first century. These expressions can surface in debates in the UN in which the Holy See is an active participant. While criticism of the Churchs position and its role in the UN have come under fire from time to time, papal diplomacy maintains the course directed by the principled compass of the transcendent, objective moral order and Christs command to go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature.

The present volume traces and investigates the ongoing encounter between the Holy See and the international order from the establishment of the United Nations in 1945 until the end of the Pontificate of Pope Paul VI in 1978. The initial aspirations of Pius XII to join the UN have not been fulfilled as of this writing, but the Holy See has formalized its participation in the General Assembly of the United Nations as of the summer of 2004. In spite of occasional criticism by particular segments of secular society, the encounter between papal diplomacy and the UN continues to exist and to be fruitful in a variety of contexts. This volume will continue to clarify the relationship of the Holy See and the UN by examining the congruence and divergence on the vital issues that are of great importance to both institutions.

The voice of the Holy See and the message that it brings through the exercise of papal diplomacy is one that is vital for the UN, its State Members, and those who participate in a variety of ways within this organization. This voice of the Church is not for her own members but for the advancement and welfare of all the people of the world for whom these organizations were established to serve. The Preamble of the United Nations Charter begins with the phrase, We the People of the United Nations.... It is the view of the authors as expressed in this volume that the participation of the Holy See in the work of the UN continues to ensure that the legitimate and authentic concerns of all the People of the United Nations, not just some, will be heard, understood, and protected. Thus, we have prepared this volume to demonstrate that the Holy See is always prepared to engage the world in the quest for peace and the protection of all peoples dignity and legitimate interests particularly in the United Nations.

Since the completion of the manuscript which has become this book, one of the authors, John Lucal, S.J., has gone home to God. He passed from this life just before Christmas, 2007. His passing is not only a personal loss to his co-author, but to the Society of Jesus, the Catholic Church, and to all people of good will. His intellect, wit, humor, and friendship shall be missed. It is to him that this volume is dedicated.