Holy See calls for shift in understanding of rights.
The recognition of human rights needs to be at the core of society, not a consequence of policy decisions, says the Holy See. Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, affirmed this before the third committee of the 63rd session of the U.N....

Religious freedom struggling says Holy See warns agains miguided hate crime laws.
Sixty years after the passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, even the most fundamental tight to freedom of religion has yet to be realized, says the Holy See. Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, told the Third Committee of the...

Holy See rejects ambassadors from France.
France has apparently withdrawn its nomination of an openly gay man as ambassador to the Holy See after Vatican objections. So far, according to press accounts, the Vatican has disapproved of all of France's proposed candidates for the job. "The first candidate was divorced ......

Holy See insists that it has the right to speak.
Rome -- The human being has dignity and a transcendent dimension, and this is why an independent moral authority, such as the Holy See, has a role to play in international organizations, says an official at the Vatican Secretariat of State. Monsignor Pietro Parolin, undersecretary for relations...

"A Catholic Call to Civility in Public Life" is issued by a distinguished list of Catholic laity, led by Thomas Melady, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.
* "A Catholic Call to Civility in Public Life" is issued by a distinguished list of Catholic laity, led by Thomas Melady, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. Civility is always in short supply and one can readily agree that "we need to keep in mind the common...

There is in this issue a comment on the letter from 138 Muslim leaders, the unfortunate response initiated by the Yale Divinity School, and the very different response by the Holy See.
* There is in this issue a comment on the letter from 138 Muslim leaders, the unfortunate response initiated by the Yale Divinity School, and the very different response by the Holy See. Since September 11, 2001, many in the West have been taking a crash course in Islam,...

Israel's pact with the Holy See.
Vatican City -- The Fundamental Agreement, on matters economic and juridical, between the Holy See and the State of Israel has been hanging fire for 15 years. In 1993 this accord was hammered out following the Vatican's recognition of Israel but it was never introduced into the Knesset, Israel's...

Holy See, again, says no to cluster bombs.
Geneva -- Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See's permanent observer to the U.N. at Geneva, said that "experience shows us how the prohibition of certain categories of arms in a good faith negotiation with international organizations has never placed states' national security in danger" (Zenit, 30 Jan. 2008). The...

Agostino Casaroli: the martyrdom of patience: The Holy See and the communist countries (1963-89).
Agostino Casaroli: the martyrdom of patience The Holy See and the communist countries (1963-89) TRANSLATED Fr. Marco Bagnarol IMC PUBLISHED BY Ave Maria Centre of Peace, Toronto, 2007 ISBN: 978-0-9782800-2-4, Softcover, pp. 376, $19.95 CND He found himself alone...

Vatican calls for homosexuality to be decriminalized.
VATICAN CITY -- After opposing a United Nations declaration that called for the decriminalization of homosexuality last month, the Vatican issued its own call to eliminate criminal penalties for homosexuality. "The Holy See appreciates the attempts made in [the declaration] to condemn all forms of violence against...