Pope Francis Entire UN Speech

[Johann_du_Toit]

Even better than his speech to the US congress in my opinion.

But the Vatican should show some caution in cooperating with the UN as some of the cause they support (population control for instance) are anti ethical to Church teaching.

 

[Paganus]

The common home of all men and women must continue to rise on the foundations of a right understanding of universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, the infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic. This common house of all men and women must also be built on the understanding of a certain sacredness of created nature.

I found this to be the most difficult passage to understand. I am unfamiliar with occupied houses that “continue to rise”, so I am not understanding the Pope’s intended meaning with this expression. I suppose the “common home of all men and women” could be the Universe, which appears to be expanding - but in that case it seems to be expanding regardless of any “right understanding” on our part. Does the Pope mean that our “common home” is the United Nations? That’s a horrifying thought, but I suppose it makes sense given the context.

The need for greater equity is especially true in the case of those bodies with effective executive capability, such as the Security Council, the Financial Agencies and the groups or mechanisms specifically created to deal with economic crises. This will help limit every kind of abuse or usury, especially where developing countries are concerned

I enjoyed the mention of usury. Currently the USA seems to promote Usury Sodomy Abortion - so it was nice to see one of these addressed by its Christian name in our post-Christian era. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the World Summit, which opens today, is an important sign of hope.

Well, it does promise that if we vote for Pedro, all of our wildest dreams will come true.

It also contains typical United Nations Goals such as:

Goal 3.7 By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes

Goal 5.6 Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences

As per usual, they avoid mentioning artificial contraception and abortion by name, but Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development discusses benefiting the ‘environment’ by artificially limiting human population growth. We all know what the UN means by this.

This presupposes and requires the right to education – also for girls (excluded in certain places) – which is ensured first and foremost by respecting and reinforcing the primary right of the family to educate its children, as well as the right of churches and social groups to support and assist families in the education of their children. Education conceived in this way is the basis for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and for reclaiming the environment.

That’s a hopeful thought. I am not certain if this is the Pope’s way of suggesting that the UN recognize “the primary right of the family to educate its children…” or if it is wishful thinking, but the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development contains no such language. Instead it reads:

4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
4.2 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education

Since this is coming from the United Nations, the impression is that compulsory secular institutional learning facilities are intended and not necessarily the facilitation of Christian homeschooling resources.

In this sense, hard evidence is not lacking of the negative effects of military and political interventions which are not coordinated between members of the international community. For this reason, while regretting to have to do so, I must renew my repeated appeals regarding to the painful situation of the entire Middle East, North Africa and other African countries, where Christians, together with other cultural or ethnic groups, and even members of the majority religion who have no desire to be caught up in hatred and folly, have been forced to witness the destruction of their places of worship, their cultural and religious heritage, their houses and property, and have faced the alternative either of fleeing or of paying for their adhesion to good and to peace by their own lives, or by enslavement.

It is good that the Pope mentioned this to the UN. Now if he could speak on this to the Bilderberg Group, we might see some action.

 

[LongingSoul]

Me too. I think this flows from his whole view of the Church being a field hospital. He wants people to know that the Church’s teachings aren’t just arbitrary rules, but are all about the true flourishing of the human person.

I really do love this pope. I can honestly say he’s changed the way I look at the world. Not that Benedict didn’t also talk about these things, but I just didn’t hear it. Before Francis was elected, I was pretty comfortable. He’s challenged me to see where my blind spots are. Made me want to really live as a disciple of Christ.

I could have written that word for word. I feel we are living in blessed times in the Church. But then again I felt that throughout the pontificate of St JPII as well.

Each time Pope Francis pulls back another curtain on the windows into his worldview, I’m more thrilled and hopeful for the future generations.of Catholics!

 

[pnewton]

Okay, so I am a little confused. Is the following a quote from Pope Paul VI, or are they Francis’s own words?

Either way, while I’m sure it won’t be enough for many CAFers, I think the Pope did something great here. He framed opposition to abortion not as some arbitrary “thou shalt not” religious prohibition, but as part of a general ethic of the value of human life in general.

Let us consider the last fifty years where we have emphasized the grave nature of abortion. The Church has never waivered What we have gained through this is a dramatic increase of abortion and increased legalization and acceptance of abortion as just something private to a woman. What the Pope is doing does not appeal to the judgmental part in all of us that like to separate people into sinners and righteous, but that party might be considered insane, if we define insanity as doing the same thing over and over and over and expect different results.

I am the same way and could easily be one that rails against Pope Francis’ approach. I love a good revenge movie and take a smug joy in bad people getting their comeuppance. However, I see a common thread in all that the Pope does in says. We are being challenged to be more connected emotionally to all those around us. When we buy a tee-shirt, we think of the child in Asia that is making that ten dollar tee. When we talk about abortion, we also consider the pressures on these lost souls that see abortion as some sort of solution to a problem. I see that the Holy Father is addressing our skewed culture in hopes of addressing sin while it is still in the heart.

 

[Bryan_Paul]

Is anyone concerned that the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was endorsed by Pope Francis as “an important sign of hope,” runs directly counter to Catholic principle of subsidiarity and likely contains substantial provisions for ‘reproductive health’ (i.e. contraception, abortion) and all manner of top-down policies implemented with big money incentives and forms of cultural imperialism?

 

[pnewton]

Is anyone concerned that the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was endorsed by Pope Francis as “an important sign of hope,” runs directly counter to Catholic principle of subsidiarity and likely contains substantial provisions for ‘reproductive health’ (i.e. contraception, abortion) and all manner of top-down policies implemented with big money incentives and forms of cultural imperialism?

No. It doesn’t, so it doesn’t concern me. There are several hundred points, or goals, in this document. I would say ninety percent are so obvious only a psychopath would disagree. These are goals, so the issue of subsidiarity is not even addressed, pro or con. Yes, something require global cooperation, by that is not contrary to any Catholic doctrine. The Church herself operates with the principle of subsidiarity, yet also with a “top down” doctrine, GIRM, canon law and many, many encyclicals, motu proprio, etc.

Yes, it does refer to “reproductive health” and I think we all know, that while that is objectively a good thing and could be approached from a Catholic perspective, in this document it means birth control. Such is the nature of a pluralistic society. And actually, if we had a Catholic run country, it could still meet even this goal with Natural Family Planning. Can a Catholic support the Constitution of the United States even though we have legalized birth control?