蜜桃交友

By Lisa Zengarini

Human rights, including those against freedom of thought, conscience and religion, continue to be violated on an alarming scale across the globe, the Holy See's Permanent Observer to the United Nations and Other International Organisations in Geneva said on Wednesday.

Discrimination and persecution of believers are on the rise

Speaking at the 55th Session of the Human Rights Council, which kicked off on  February 26, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, remarked that discrimination and persecution of believers are on the rise worldwide.

He cited the which show that religious freedom is violated in almost one third of the world鈥檚 countries, affecting around 4.9 billion people.

The  former Nuncio to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC) also lamented that in some Western countries, 鈥渞eligious discrimination and censorship are being perpetrated under the guise of 鈥榯olerance and inclusion鈥�.鈥�

International cooperation to protect the dignity of the human person

Regarding the general topic discussed at the session, Archbishop Ballestrero underscored that in pursuing 鈥渁 more effective鈥� international cooperation, as called for by to address the current challenges in a multipolar world, 鈥渆specially in order to consolidate respect for the most elementary human rights鈥�, the focus must remain of the dignity of the human person, which is the foundation of peace, as stated in 1948 by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

To improve multilateral diplomacy, he said, it is therefore important 鈥渢o uphold values that are rooted in human dignity鈥�.  This requires in turn 鈥渞ebuilding a shared vision of our inherent nature.鈥�

AI and the protection of fudamental human rights

Human dignity, continued the Vatican Observer, must become the guiding principle also in the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI).

鈥淎dvancements in this field should respect fundamental human rights and ought to serve, not compete with, our human potential鈥�, he said. 鈥淭he development of artificial intelligence can only be considered successful if we act responsibly and uphold fundamental human values.鈥�

Archbishop Ballestrero went on to remark that many of the challenges we face today stem from 鈥渁 lack of respect for human dignity and a failure to recognize our interconnectedness.鈥�

"New rights" threaten human dignity and fraternity

He recalled the attempts to introduce so called 鈥渘ew rights鈥� that question the sacredness of every human life, and 鈥渘ot always consistent with what is truly good for the human person鈥�.

These 鈥渘ew rights鈥�, said the Nuncio, have lead to what Pope Francis has termed as an  鈥渋deological colonisation鈥� that undermines human dignity, as well as human fraternity,  as they create 鈥渄ivisions between cultures, societies, and States, rather than fostering unity and peace.鈥�

鈥淯niversal fraternity is an essential condition for the full realisation of human rights in today鈥檚 world鈥�, the Vatican Observer concluded. 鈥淲hen we fail to acknowledge that we are all interconnected, we all suffer.鈥�