Religion and Public Policy at the UN

The Holy See The term “Holy See” refers to the “see” or “seat”(from the Latin sedes) of institutional authority in the Roman Catholic Church occupied by the Pope and his representatives, whose administrative headquarters are in the Vatican City, an independent territory located in Rome. In 1964 the Holy See was granted permanent observer status…

Ban pledges to work with Pope on justice, peace, equality

17 April 2009 – Marking the anniversary of Pope Benedict’s address to the General Assembly, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pledged to continue work with the head of the Catholic Church to build “a world of lasting justice and peace.” “As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I represent a secular institution, composed of 192 States, with six…

Ban Ki-moon welcomes Pope Benedict, stressing common mission

  18 April 2008 – Welcoming a guest he invited to the United Nations a year ago, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed to Pope Benedict XVI today the fundamental goals that unite the world Organization and the Roman Catholic Church. “Your Holiness, welcome to our common home,” Mr. Ban told the smiling Pontiff as he introduced…

Faith and values organizations form coalition to advance United Nations Decade for Inter-religious Cooperation for Peace

Some forty-five religious, interfaith, and value-based organizations from five continents agreed to form a coalition to advance a “United Nations Decade for Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding, and Cooperation for Peace.” Coalition members expressed the hope that the UN Sixty-Fourth General Assembly, which will begin its deliberations in September 2009, will approve a resolution establishing…

Analysis: Crisis may lead to new world order

LONDON, England (CNN) — Can this G-20 summit prove to be anything more than group therapy for a bunch of fingernail-gnawing, troubled individuals? The prospects are not good. The men and women called together in London by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to counter an economic slump are politicians — just at a time when…

U.N.’s Ban says slump may lead to political crisis

Fri Mar 27, 2:34 pm ET MOSCOW (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Friday that the global economic crisis could lead to a political crisis and social unrest and called on the world’s leading economies to act. “I am concerned that if we do not properly address this issue swiftly, this may develop rather alarmingly into political…

EU car licence symbolises ‘adoration of Mary’, says Dutch group

Andreas Havinga ‘The Stars of Mary.’ Paris café sign. Photo: © Stephen Brown/ENI Utrecht, Netherlands (ENI). A group of Protestant Christians in the Netherlands is objecting to the emblem of the European Union being placed on car registration plates in their country, asserting that the symbol conflicts with their religious convictions. The National Foundation for…