The Rome-based Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency reported that "an international coalition of more than 70 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has launched a global campaign to expel the United Nations Vatican". The Vatican is currently a permanent observer or a non-member state within the United Nations. The Vatican has had this status since 1964.
Why is this group of NGOs, which at the end of April last year had grown to 100 organizations around the world, against the position of the Vatican at the United Nations? Because the Vatican, the NGOs argue, is a religious authority and not a political state. Frances Kissling, President of Catholics for Free Will, told IPS that the coalition is not protesting the Vatican's right to take its position, but that "it is about the right of this non-state to take a position. In governments".
Anika Rahman, director of international programs at the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, agrees. IPS quoted her as saying, “When the UN treats the Holy See as a state with permanent observer privileges by virtue of its religious authority, the world body is setting a precedent for similar claims by others. Religions. "He added:" To ensure that the United Nations does not promote a particular religion, religious entities like the Roman Catholic Church should not be allowed to participate in this forum as a non-member state. "
But what about the argument that the Vatican is a state and therefore entitled to its current state? "It's a semantic language," replied Kissling in an interview. "We say that this is essentially a 15th century definition of the state and that the Holy See is actually the governing structure of religion." He added that the terms "Vatican" and "Holy See" are "synonymous with the Roman Catholic Church".
Much of the NGOs' resentment against the Vatican's current position at the United Nations is based on the Vatican's view of population issues. For example, the Vatican has used United Nations conferences such as the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994 and the Beijing Women's Conference in 1995 to express its firm stance against family planning. "With the United Nations taking most of its decisions by consensus," said IPS, "dissenting voices such as the Vatican have obstructed negotiations on issues related to population, contraception, women's rights and health." reproductive. ""
According to Ms. Kissling, "the real role of the Vatican is that of an NGO, like all other NGOs that represent Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Bahá'ís and other religious organizations." The coalition wants UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and ultimately the UN General Assembly to conduct a formal review of the Vatican's position on the world's largest political body.
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