Our Journeys

4. Before We became pope, We traveled to Latin America (1960) and Africa (1962). There We saw the perplexing problems that vex and besiege these continents, which are otherwise full of life and promise. On being elected pope, We became the father of all men. We made trips to Palestine and India, gaining first-hand knowledge of the difficulties that these age-old civilizations must face in their struggle for further development. Before the close of the Second Vatican Council, providential circumstances allowed Vs to address the United Nations and to plead the case of the impoverished nations before that distinguished assembly.

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The Journey Has Begun: Holy See Statement to U.N. Rights Council

"The Journey Has Begun"

GENEVA, JULY 3, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is the June 20 address by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See's permanent observer at the United Nations at Geneva, to the 5th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

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Mr. President,

The delegation of the Holy See expresses its congratulations for your election to preside the next round of the Human Rights Council, assures its full cooperation and wishes you good success in the complex deliberations ahead of us. At the same time, it wants to express its warm appreciation for the intense and productive work carried out by Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba who has guided the first year of existence of the new council with great dedication.

Like a young tree planted on the ground, the Human Rights Council has been established by the U.N. General Assembly with the hopeful expectation it would grow into a strong and fruitful plant. The multilateral efforts carried out in the last months have provided both a solid example of how working together with patience and good will can yield positive results as well as the needed institutional humus for the tree to grow and eventually meet all expectations.

The consensus reached, however, is a starting point, a springboard to move ahead and remedy the deficiencies that excessive compromise may have brought about at the expense of a more determined and effective support and promotion of human rights for all men and women, even in remote or silenced regions of the world.

A globalization of human rights should match the globalization of the economy, of communications, of the movement of people. The priority of the rights of the human person takes precedence over narrow political considerations and immediate advantages that may accrue by tolerating the violation of these rights.

Mr. President,

The journey of the Human Rights Council has begun. The challenge facing the community of states is now that of making it work as that pillar of the international system of coexistence and cooperation it was envisioned to be. In this way, resolutions, reports, discussions and technical advice will really contribute to changes on the ground and to the improvement of the quality of life and enjoyment of their rights by all persons.

Thank you, Mr. President

Benedict XVI's Words at Monastery

SÃO PAULO, Brazil, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).
Dear Friends,

Your affectionate welcome is heart-warming for the Pope! Thank you for waiting here to greet me.

These days, for all of you and for the Church, will be full of emotion and joy.

The Church is in festal mode! In every corner of the world people are praying for the fruits of this journey, the first Pastoral Journey to Brazil and to Latin America that Providence has granted me to carry out as the Successor of Peter.

The canonization of Frei Galvão and the inauguration of the Fifth Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean will be milestones in the history of the Church. I am counting on you and on your prayers!