(September 17, 2009) The United Nations needs to be reformed and plenty of ideas
are being floated, but what the international body really needs is selfless dedication
to the common good, according to the Holy See's permanent observer. Archbishop Celestino
Migliore talked Wednesday with Vatican Radio about bringing the United Nations back
to a position of relevance on the international scene. The Holy See's representative
suggested that "there is, undoubtedly, the worrying perception that, without a precise
reform of the way decisions are made, the U.N. will regress to a dangerous loss of
relevance." But, he said, "The problem is not with finding adequate technical and
institutional solutions," since "proposals abound." Instead, the archbishop contended,
"the issue is the political will of each one of the members that form a part of the
organization, and especially of those who exercise greater political, economic, military
and demographic influence, to be able to use, that is, to have the audacity to promote
their own national interests in the context and according to the promotion of the
universal common good." In regard to the institutional reform of the United Nations
and, specifically, of the Security Council, Archbishop Migliore contended that "it's
not a question of thinking only of enlarging [the council] with new countries, but
above all, the issue of the veto." He said the veto in the Security Council "can
no longer be regarded in terms of privilege or power, but must be considered in the
light of justice and solidarity to respond swiftly to international emergencies."
The Holy See's representative also referred to a world authority capable of addressing
the problems of the international community, which Pope Benedict XVI defends in "Caritas
in Veritate." He explained that the encyclical calls for the United Nations as a public
authority capable of guaranteeing a social order at the world level.