Our Work at the United Nations
Priests for Life is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special
Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United
Nations. We participate in meetings at the United Nations and collaborate
with the Holy See and numerous pro-family NGOs to foster international
policies protecting the dignity of human life at all stages.
October 17, 2014
Archbishop Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations
at the General Assembly at a Third Committee meeting of the Rights of
Children (Agenda Item 64 (a,b)) gave an unbridled defense of unborn children
on 17 October 2014 by saying “too many children are denied the most
fundamental right to life; that prenatal selection eliminates babies
suspected to have disabilities and female children simply because of their
sex…” And reminded member states that the Convention on the Rights of
the Child which celebrates its 25th anniversary in November “contains
such fundamental principles as the protection of the rights of the child
before as well as after birth, the family as the natural environment for the
growth and education of children, and the right of the child to health care
and education.”
See Statement.
October 9, 2014
Archbishop Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations
at the General Assembly Debate on the follow-up of the Program of Action of
the International Conference on Population and Development on October 9
continued his strong defense of the unborn by stating
“.. the Holy See notes that too often, the role of the ICPD on maternal
health is used to promote “reproductive health rights” detrimental to the
unborn human life and the integral needs of women themselves. Efforts to
address maternal mortality, obstetric fistula, child mortality, prenatal and
antenatal care, sexually transmitted diseases and other health matters are
at times hampered by policies that fail to take into account the right to
life of the unborn child. Suggesting that reproductive health includes a
“right to abortion” explicitly violates the language of the ICPD, oftentimes
defies moral and legal standards within local communities, and divides
efforts to address the real needs of mothers and children.
Read statement
September 22, 2014
PFL UN Representatives where at the UN when Archbishop Bernardito Auza,
the new Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations weighed in
with a life affirming statement at the 29th Special Session of the General
Assembly on the follow-up of the Program of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development New York, 22 September when he said
“My delegation is concerned that documents and discussions successive to the
Cairo Conference have shown a constant insistence on “reproductive health
and rights” without due regard to the unborn. Attempts to suggest that the
term “reproductive health” includes the right to abortion explicitly violate
the language of the ICPD and divide efforts to address the real need of
mothers and children.
Read statement
August 5, 2014 - Our Work at the United Nations
Our Priests for Llife UN Representative was present for the Dialogue with
Member States on the rule of law at the international level “Presentation of
the Secretary-General’s Guidance Note on Reparations for Conflict-Related
Sexual Violence” (organized by the Rule of Law Unit, Executive Office of the
Secretary-General) Friday, 1 August 2014. Where buried at the end of the
document on the last page (p.20) and not referenced at all in the
presentation was a statement inviting “Among other legislative
measures that are needed, legislation is required to provide women and
girls, who become pregnant as a result of rape, with the choice of safe and
legal abortion."
The effect of which would force every UN dependent country in need of
post conflict assistance to agree to legalize and provide abortions in order
to receive any other assistance. In other words, compounding one terrible
human tragedy by adding another.
May 15, 2014
In a United Nations side-event organized by the Holy See Mission and
presided over by Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Archbishop Paglia, President
of the Pontifical Council for the Family reminded delegates of Pope Francis’
words to UN agency heads at the Vatican on May 9 saying “… that human life
is sacred and inviolable from conception to its natural ending,…” Archbishop
Paglia went to on to say that “the family not only ‘matters,’ it is rather
at the very heart of human development, indispensable and irreplaceable, and
at the same time beautiful and welcoming.”
Archbishop Paglia was also in the US for meetings in Philadelphia, site of
next year's Vatican World Meeting of Families
worldmeeting2015.org taking place September 22-27.
Click here to read the full text
of the statement.
April 10, 2014
The statement was read during the 47th Session of the Commission on
Population and Development, taking place in New York, 7-11 April by Msgr.
Janusz Urbanczyk, Chargé d'Affaires, Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy
See to the United Nations where he reminded the assembly that
According to the report of the Secretary General, no
fewer than 80 countries now register a fertility rate below replacement
level. These statistics should be a great cause for alarm, as expressed in
another report of the Secretary General: Old-age support ratios, defined as
the number of working-age adults per older person in the population, are
already low in most countries of the more developed regions and are expected
to continue to fall in the coming decades, ensuring continued fiscal
pressure on support systems for older people. The unsustainable phenomenon
of ageing populations can only be resolved by promoting family life and
fertility. Support systems for the ageing can only be sustained by a larger,
not smaller, next generation, either by paying into a social security
system, or by providing intergenerational family support directly.
My delegation wishes to express grave concern over a
very proscriptive approach taken in the zero draft of the outcome document,
towards the implementation of the ICPD. This approach seems to treat
fertility and pregnancy as a disease which must either be prevented or
managed via government or outside assistance. While this may well reflect
the concerns of certain highly developed countries, on a universal scale it
certainly skews the population and development realities for the most part
of the developing countries of the world, for whom other issues take greater
priority. My delegation is of the view that a more sensible approach should
focus less on reducing fertility and more on programs and values which
support integral human development, namely: personal, social, and spiritual
development. Access to education, economic opportunity, political stability,
basic health care, and support for the family should serve as the key
priorities for achieving such integral human development.
An issue of great international sensitivity is an
insistent promotion of so-called sexual and reproductive "rights", almost to
the exclusion of any other issue. This reflects an improper overtaking of
the ICPD Programme of Action by efforts to promote the legalization and/or
liberalization of abortion laws, whether by Member States or some UN
Agencies, who openly promote laws providing for legal abortion.
However, the Programme of Action in no way promotes
abortion, but expressly repudiates it as a mean of controlling families or
the population. The ICPD denies that it creates any new rights in this
regard. Such laws and policies remain the prerogative of individual Member
States according to the Programme of Action. All States emphasized at Cairo
that Governments should help women avoid recourse to abortion.
Pope Francis recently addressed this issue:
Among the vulnerable for whom the church wishes to
care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most
defenseless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them
their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their
lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this. .
[T]he church cannot be expected to change her position on this question. It
is not 'progressive' to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life.
The Holy See continues to serve at the front-line
addressing greater global poverty, human rights and development. Through its
presence and emphasis on providing quality and affordable education, health
care, access to food and respect for all human rights, the Holy See
demonstrates that care and compassion for the poor, rather than focusing on
fertility reduction, serves as a model for a truly human-centered approach
to development.
Priests for Life in its role as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in
Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the
United Nations is participating in the 47th meeting of the Commission on
Population and Development
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/index.shtml and also
called attention to the critical period of development in the first 1000
days of life-from conception to the second birthday- in its statement posted
on the CPD website.
http://papersmart.unmeetings.org/en/ecosoc/cpd/47th-session/documents/
April 10, 2014
The statement read
by Msgr. Janusz Urbanczyk, Chargé d'Affaires, Permanent
Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations Commission on
Population and Development 47th Session United Nations Headquarters, New
York, 10 April 2014 reminded the assembly that
According to the report of the Secretary General, no fewer than 80
countries now register a fertility rate below replacement level. These
statistics should be a great cause for alarm, as expressed in another report
of the Secretary General: Old-age support ratios, defined as the number of
working-age adults per older person in the population, are already low in
most countries of the more developed regions and are expected to continue to
fall in the coming decades, ensuring continued fiscal pressure on support
systems for older people. The unsustainable phenomenon of ageing populations
can only be resolved by promoting family life and fertility. Support systems
for the ageing can only be sustained by a larger, not smaller, next
generation, either by paying into a social security system, or by providing
intergenerational family support directly.
My delegation wishes to express grave concern over a very proscriptive
approach taken in the zero draft of the outcome document, towards the
implementation of the ICPD. This approach seems to treat fertility and
pregnancy as a disease which must either be prevented or managed via
government or outside assistance. While this may well reflect the concerns
of certain highly developed countries, on a universal scale it certainly
skews the population and development realities for the most part of the
developing countries of the world, for whom other issues take greater
priority. My delegation is of the view that a more sensible approach should
focus less on reducing fertility and more on programs and values which
support integral human development, namely: personal, social, and spiritual
development. Access to education, economic opportunity, political stability,
basic health care, and support for the family should serve as the key
priorities for achieving such integral human development.
An issue of great international sensitivity is an insistent promotion of
so-called sexual and reproductive “rights”, almost to the exclusion of any
other issue. This reflects an improper overtaking of the ICPD Programme of
Action by efforts to promote the legalization and/or liberalization of
abortion laws, whether by Member States or some UN Agencies, who openly
promote laws providing for legal abortion.
However, the Programme of Action in no way promotes abortion, but
expressly repudiates it as a mean of controlling families or the population.
The ICPD denies that it creates any new rights in this regard. Such laws and
policies remain the prerogative of individual Member States according to the
Programme of Action. All States emphasized at Cairo that Governments should
help women avoid recourse to abortion.
Pope Francis recently addressed this issue:
Among the vulnerable for whom the church wishes to care with particular
love and concern are unborn children, the most defenseless and innocent
among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to
do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws
preventing anyone from standing in the way of this. … [T]he church cannot be
expected to change her position on this question… It is not ‘progressive’ to
try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life
The Holy See continues to serve at the front-line addressing greater
global poverty, human rights and development. Through its presence and
emphasis on providing quality and affordable education, health care, access
to food and respect for all human rights, the Holy See demonstrates that
care and compassion for the poor, rather than focusing on fertility
reduction, serves as a model for a truly human-centered approach to
development.
Priests for Life in its role as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in
Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the
United Nations is participating in the 47th meeting of the Commission on
Population and Development
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/index.shtml and also
called attention to the critical period of development in the first 1000
days of life—from conception to the second birthday— in its statement posted
on the CPD website.
http://papersmart.unmeetings.org/en/ecosoc/cpd/47th-session/documents/
April 7, 2014
Priests for Life in its role as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in
Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the
United Nations is participating in the 47th meeting of the
Commission on
Population and Development and calls
attention to the critical period of development in the first 1000 days of
life—from conception to the second birthday— in its
statement posted on the
CPD website.
The week-long meeting focuses on the priority theme, "Assessment of the
status of implementation of the Program of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development." Priests for Life reminds CPD
that programs that promote the well-being of women must also protect
children’s lives - the health of children begins in the womb. It is
increasingly recognized that the first 1000 days of life - from conception to
the child’s second birthday - is a critical period that determines the health
of a child for his or her entire life. Priests for Life calls on CSW to
focus on this ‘window of opportunity’ and ensure that women of childbearing
age are well nourished so they are healthier and better able to provide
nourishment for their preborn children, ensuring healthy physical and
cognitive development. Healthy children grow up to be healthy adults who are
better equipped to make meaningful contributions to their families and
society.
Read the full statement
March 17, 2014
Father Pavone, along with several other NGOs, is co-sponsoring an
important side event at the UN on Tuesday March 18 at 12:00 entitled
“Family, Motherhood and Development Goals” in the Hardin Room,
Church Center UN 777 UN Plaza. 2014 marks the 20th Anniversary of the
International Year for the Family, and the priority theme of the 58th
session of the Commission is “Challenges and achievements in the
implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”.
See flyer.
March 12, 2014
Priests for Life in its role as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in
Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the
United Nations is participating in the 48th meeting of the UN Commission on
the Status of Women (CSW) and calls attention to the critical period of
development in the first 1000 days of life—from conception to the second
birthday— in its statement posted on the CSW website.
http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw58-2014/official-documents
The two week meeting focuses on the priority theme, “Challenges and
achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for
women and girls”. Father Pavone notes, “The world has made great progress in
reducing maternal deaths and continued efforts to protect the lives of
mothers must not include access to abortion. Abortion is not health care;
abortion destroys the lives of precious children while often harming their
mothers.”
Priests for Life reminds CSW that programs that promote the well-being of
women must also protect children’s lives — the health of children begins in
the womb. It is increasingly recognized that the first 1000 days of life—
from conception to the child’s second birthday—is a critical period that
determines the health of a child for his or her entire life. Priests for
Life calls on CSW to focus on this ‘window of opportunity’ and ensure that
women of childbearing age are well nourished so they are healthier and
better able to provide nourishment for their preborn children, ensuring
healthy physical and cognitive development. Healthy children grow up to be
healthy adults who are better equipped to make meaningful contributions to
their families and society.
Read the full statement
February 5, 2014
As a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with Special
Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council, Priests for Life
will be participating in the Fifty-Second Session of the Commission for
Social Development (CSocD52) February 11-21, 2014 at United Nations
Headquarters in New York. PFL submitted a statement on the priority theme
"Promoting empowerment of people in achieving poverty eradication, social
integration and full employment and decent work for all" which has been
posted on the
website of the CSocD52 in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, and
Chinese.
Father Pavone states, “It is important that we remind the UN Commission
on Social Development that the dignity and intrinsic value of every human
being must be protected and upheld in all policies and programs that seek to
end poverty and provide employment and decent work for all. No life is
expendable.”
Priests for Life by participating in this latest UN meeting will again
advance respect for all members of the family, from conception to natural
death, and affirm that the intrinsic dignity of life is the foundation of
human rights. The PFL statement includes, “Fundamental respect for human
life—and human rights—cannot be negotiable or contingent on age, sex, race,
disability, wantedness, condition of dependency or stage of development.”
“Life is not just for the privileged, the perfect and the planned but
extends to all members of the human family, including preborn children.
Policies to eradicate poverty must recognize the potential of all
individuals to help solve the problem of poverty and not treat people as the
problem.” Read the full
statement.
October 21, 2013
Fr. Pavone applauds Archbishop Chullikatt, the Pope’s personal
representative at the United Nations, for his constant and unwavering
support of the unborn child and his recent remarks at the UN defending the
child’s rights both “before and after birth”. He stated that “Indeed,
without life, all other rights are meaningless.” Archbishop Chullikatt spoke
in response to the Secretary General’s Report on the Status of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child. See more
holyseemission.org/statements/statement.aspx?id=446
April 26, 2013
On the occasion of the 46th Session of the UN’s Commission on Population
and Development, taking place this past week in NY and where Priests for
Life delegates have been participating, members were reminded by the Holy
See’s Archbishop Francis A. Chullikatt, Apostolic Nuncio in a statement
delivered to the assembly, that
“we cannot fail to recognize the impact that the enactment of draconian
population control policies have wreaked on countries whose populations can
no longer sustain themselves, nor the destructive impact that the forced
promotion of harmful notions, such as reproductive rights, has had on
migrant families, trivialising marriage and the family and denying the very
right to life for the unborn. Such a promotion of population control as a
way to development has also led States to use forced abortion and
sterilization as a means for controlling or mitigating the demographic and
racial impact of migrants on their countries. States, on the contrary, have
the duty to bolster the family, “the fundamental group unit of society”[6],
so as to provide support for the institution where the relations of tomorrow
must be cultivated.
The full statement can be found at
http://holyseemission.org/statements/statement.aspx?id=414
February 21, 2013
Fr Pavone applauds Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the
Pontifical Council for the Family, for important remarks he made on the
family at a United Nations event sponsored by The Holy See Mission entitled
“The Family, a Resource for Society”. The February 15th address was given in
preparation for the Twentieth Anniversary of the International Year of the
Family under the auspices of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs
of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The President spoke of “the
family as the fundamental resource of society, the source of social capital
and the birthright of all humanity.” Priests for Life UN delegates were
present for the address which can be found in its entirety at
http://www.holyseemission.org/events/event.aspx?id=37
February 18, 2013
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women - General
Discussion on "access to justice"
The UN treaty monitoring body, the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), held a General Discussion on "access
to justice" yesterday in Geneva in preparation for the writing of its
“General Recommendation” on “access to justice”. General Recommendations are
used by CEDAW to address issues that are not part of the treaty and are used
at times to promote the radical agenda. The treaty does not in any way
promote abortion, yet the committee often recommends that countries change
laws that restrict or ban abortion. In their written submissions,
pro-abortion activists argued that legal abortion is necessary for women to
have “access to justice” presenting abortion as a human right and urging the
elimination of laws protecting the child in the womb from the violence of
abortion.
Marie Smith, a PFL representative to the UN and Director of the Gospel of
Life ministry Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI), wrote the
PFL statement that highlights the facts that international law recognizes
the need to protect the child from the moment of conception and that nearly
every country in the world bans the death penalty for pregnant women,
thereby protecting the life of the innocent child in the womb. Father Pavone
supported the statement declaring, “Abortion denies life to the preborn
child; it is an act of injustice. Laws against abortion recognize the need
to protect both the vulnerable child and his or her mother from the
destruction of abortion. They should be upheld as just and humane laws that
recognize the innate dignity of every life.”
Read the full text of
the Priests for Life statement.
December 13, 2012
Priests for Life at the UN—Prevention and Elimination of Violence Against
Girls and Women
Priests for Life, as a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)
with Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council, is
participating in a two day forum of interested parties at the United Nations
in New York, to highlight the areas where women and girls are the victims of
violence and what actions need to be taken to both prevent and eliminate
such violence.
Priests for Life has submitted a statement to the CSW by Father Frank
Pavone that highlights the violence of sex selection abortion and forced
abortion as well as the violence inherent in any abortion act. Father Pavone
states, “Abortion by its very nature is an act of violence directed at the
preborn child, but it also harms, exploits and degrades women.” He addresses
the global issue of violence against girls, “Sustainable elimination of
violence against women and girls must begin where the violence begins - in
the womb. Sex selection abortion is the ultimate act of discrimination
against girls - a baby girl is identified in utero and her life ended simply
because she is a baby girl.”
PFL will be sending a delegation to the 57th session of the Commission on
the Status of Women and will work with other organizations to raise the
issue of abortion as violence against women and girls. As Father Pavone
stated in the conclusion of the PFL statement,
“True equality for girls with boys begins when both are welcomed in the womb
and at birth, and protected in law. Women need to be valued as equals to men
and recognized and respected for their unique capacity to bear children and
give birth. Their lives should be free of violence and they should be
assisted in their critical role of mothers. The future of each and every
country depends on healthy women and girls.”
Read the full text of the Priests for Life
statement
September 20, 2012
Fr. Pavone said he was pleased by the very positive dialogue that
took place in Rome during the PFL sponsored event for NGOs hosted by the
Pontifical Council for the Family and relevant offices of the Secretariat of
State of the Holy See. Priests for Life was pleased back in July to
announce to all its supporters that it was sponsoring and promoting a
three-day training course in Rome September 13-15 for Catholic-Inspired
NGOs. The event gathered speakers and participants for training and
networking and had at its heart the promotion and defense of the rights and
dignity of human life and featured contributions from leading international
scholars.
Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, said" "We
were truly honored to collaborate in this important initiative and invite
all to join us in prayer for God's blessing upon the conference participants
as they continue the necessary task of bringing to the world the message of
the Gospel of Life."
Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization
dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit
www.priestsforlife.org.
May 2, 2012
Father Pavone expressed support for the
statement by the Holy See Mission emphasizing the importance of parents
and family in matters pertaining to adolescents and youth at the 45th
session of the Conference on Population and Development. Father Pavone
agreed that “The family is the original nucleus of society, the
primordial foundation of social ties and the locus where the relations of
tomorrow--nuptial, parental, filial, fraternal--are cultivated.”
Additionally, Father Pavone supported the Holy See statement affirming the
family— “the singular and irreplaceable value of the family founded upon
matrimony and the inviolability of human life from conception until natural
death must be affirmed.”
Delegates to the meeting negotiated for seven days on issues pertaining to
youth from ages 10 to 24 and included discussion and disagreements on
abortion, parental rights and responsibilities, and national laws on
abortion. The Holy See voiced strong opposition to the use of any term that
could promote abortion including “reproductive health services”,
“reproductive rights”, and “comprehensive sexuality education”.
At the conclusion of the meeting Father Pavone stated “It is
encouraging to see countries that support the dignity of life for children
in the womb raising their voices to object to efforts to advance the death
of vulnerable unborn children in the name of development. May more countries
find the courage to speak up at UN venues to affirm the lives of children,
mothers and the family. Children are the most precious resource of any
country and their lives need to be affirmed and protected by all.”
April 22, 2012
PFL is on the scene as the UN’s Commission on Population and Development
(CPD) is kicking off its forty-fifth session in New York this week with a
week-long meeting on the theme “Adolescents and Youth” with an emphasis on
reproductive health and rights, terms defined by Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton to include abortion. The very terms "adolescents and youth" are also
not clearly defined and can include youth from ages 10-24.
The CPD’s draft resolution for the meeting includes a strong push by some
governments to promote access to “safe abortion” under the auspice of sexual
and reproductive health for youth. A coalition of European
governments--Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland,
the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom-- have broken from the
European country group and organized under the title the “Likeminded Group”
to promote this radical agenda along with the United States and various
other developed countries.
Fr. Frank Pavone reacts, "This focus is very timely, as the rising
generation of youth is expected to be the largest in history as the birth
rate plummets around the world. Young people deserve special attention but
programs and policies for adolescents must not include the death of the
youngest members of the human family--children in the womb. The human
dignity of all members of the human family must be upheld and programs
developed to help young people reach adulthood with the skills needed to
lead productive lives and the values instilled to respect and affirm the
right to life from conception to natural death."
February 8, 2012 – Fr. Pavone receives international support for
his written statement to the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women which is
preparing to meet in NY February 27 to March 9, 2012. The following
NGOs have already lent their support:
Institute for Family Policy (IPF)
International Association of Charities (IAC)
International Solidarity and Human Rights Institute (ISHR)
Society of Catholic Social Scientists (SCSS)
World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations (WUCWO)
The theme of the conference is “The empowerment of rural women and their
role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges”.
Fr. Pavone’s statement is available here.
Priests for Life UN delegates will be participating in the upcoming
conference and working with a coalition to help protect the true interests
of women throughout the world. More information on the conference is
available on the UN
site.
February 7, 2012 – Fr. Pavone is pleased to join other
international NGOs in co-sponsoring a side event at the UN’s Commission on
the Status of Women meeting in NY February 27 to March 9, 2012. The
event is entitled “Fighting Maternal Discrimination: A New Challenge
for the XXI Century”. The event takes place 6 March 2012 at 6:15pm
at the Boss Room, 8th Floor at the CCUN building and is being organized by
the Institute for Family Policy (IPF). The IFP states that:
"If the twentieth century marked the emergence of
women in the workplace, the challenge of the XXI century will be the
recognition of their rights as women and mothers at work"
The past century has seen women's access to
employment, thus contributing to economic development and growth of western
societies. Women are no longer spectators of the political, economic, social
and cultural changes, but have decided to take part in all the areas that
make up society. The contribution of the feminine genius to the
world of finance, politics, businesses, industries, culture, NGOs,
development cooperation ... is certainly positive, but we must not forget
the sacrifices that they had to perform in a world which has been eminently
male. Sacrifices that have brought about a rupture with a sphere no less
import ant than the former: the family. The same need for justice that
demanded the participation of women in decision-making emerges today to
recognize them not only as working women but also as working mothers.
XXI century rulers should take steps to achieve
harmonization of work organization and legislation with the rights of
working mothers. Measures to enable women to develop their career choice
without being forced to delay motherhood or even to give it up in order to
avoid tensions in the workplace. We must defend the right of mothers to
choose whether or not they want to work outside home without detrimental to
family life and without being discriminated in the workplace. This will
provide personal balance, family harmony and ultimately fulfillment of the
right of women to a comprehensive personal development in all facets of
their lives.
More information on the conference is available on the UN
site.
February 6, 2012
Fr. Pavone endorsed an oral statement to the UN’s 50th Commission
on Social Development prepared by Marie Smith, Director of
PNCI, one of PFL’s
senior representatives at the United Nations. The Commission on Social
Development is meeting in NY February 1 to 10, 2012 and the priority theme
this year is "Poverty Eradication". Marie Smith said that:
Priests for Life applauds the focus of the Fiftieth
Session of the Commission for Social Development on Poverty Eradication and
affirms the need to assist and protect the family. The family is the
foundation of society; no social construct can replace or take its place.
All individuals who compose the family are at the center of development as
recognized by the General Assembly in the Declaration on the Right to
Development (A/Res/41/128), “…that the human person is the central subject
of the development process and that development policy should therefore make
the human being the main participant and beneficiary of development.”
Regrettably, far too often the reverse is the
operative policy, and in the name of “development” people are considered
expendable. Authentic development includes all members of the family in
policies and programs and supports the family when it is suffering from
economic and social hardship and deprivation.
The full statement is available here. Priests for Life UN delegates will
be participating in the upcoming conference and working with various
coalitions to help protect the true interests of women worldwide. More
information on the conference is available on the UN
site.
December 13, 2011
Fr. Pavone issued a statement to the UN’s Commission on the
Status of Women which is preparing to meet in NY February 27 to March 9,
2012. The theme of the conference is “The empowerment of rural
women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and
current challenges”. Fr. Pavone stated that:
“Health care in any form, including maternal health or reproductive health,
that includes access to abortion is not health care. Abortion ends the life
of one patient and may injure the other physically, mentally, emotionally
and spiritually. True women’s rights and freedom will never exist until
women’s reproductive capacity is valued and their children are cherished by
the men who father them.”
The full statement is available
here. Priests for Life UN delegates will be participating in
the upcoming conference and working with a coalition to help protect the
true interests of women throughout the world. More information on the
conference is available on the
UN site.
September 16, 2011
Father Frank Pavone commends Archbishop Tomasi for his strong defense of
life at the United Nations in Geneva
Father Frank Pavone commends Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, Permanent
Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and Specialized Agencies in
Geneva, for his strong defense of life during the 18th Session of the Human
Rights Council (HRC). Archbishop Tomasi responded to the presentation of a
radical report on maternal health by the UN’s top human rights official,
High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pillay, that promotes abortion in the
strongest terms and cites data, arguments and documents from pro-abortion
organizations including IPPF and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The
report,
Practices in adopting a human rights-based approach to eliminate preventable
maternal mortality and human rights (A/HRC/18/27) advances the
legalization of abortion as necessary to reduce maternal mortality and as
essential in the context of human rights and urges countries to overturn
pro-life laws.
Archbishop Tomasi, as head of the Holy See delegation, spoke of the need
to reduce the 350,000 maternal deaths that occur each year and improve the
lives of women. He took exception to the abortion and family planning
sections of the report stating, “We believe, moreover, that abortion, which
destroys existing human life,… is never an acceptable method of family
planning, as was recognized by consensus at the Mexico City United Nations
International Conference on Population (1984). Thus we find it totally
unacceptable for so-called “safe abortion” to be promoted by the Report
being discussed during the current Session of the Human Rights Council or,
perhaps even more significantly, by the United National Global Strategy for
Women’s and Children Health, launched by the UN Secretary General in
September 2010.”
The Archbishop cited evidence-based data from the World Health
Organization (WHO) that demonstrates women in Africa “die primarily from
five major causes: hypertensive diseases, obstructed labour, haemorrhage,
sepsis and infection, and HIV-related diseases.” He condemned efforts to
divert funding for health care to programs for abortion and contraception
and concluded: “… the Holy See Delegation expresses the firm hope that the
international community will succeed in reducing maternal morbidity and
mortality by promoting effective interventions that are based on deep and
abiding values as well as on scientific and medical knowledge and that are
respectful of the sacredness of life from conception to natural death, for
“[t]he presence of a mother within the family is so important for the
stability and growth of this fundamental cell of society, that it should be
recognized, commended and supported in every possible way.”
Father Pavone commends Archbishop Tomasi for his statement, “Archbishop
Tomasi’s strong defense of life is much needed at the United Nations,
especially at the Human Rights Council as we see increased pro-abortion
activity to distort God-given human rights to advance the death of children
in the womb. As a registered non-governmental organization (NGO), Priests
for Life has been advancing life-affirming solutions to save the lives of
both mothers and children at the United Nations. The archbishop’s clear
articulation of support for the lives and livelihoods of mothers while
opposing the death of their precious children through abortion exemplifies
the focus of the international pro-life movement to “love them both” and to
provide women with the resources they need to choose life for their child.”
Click here for photos
July 25, 2011 – Fr. Pavone applauds youth prolife leaders at Holy
See Mission Official Side-Event and 57,000 Young People Send a Protest
Message, all this to help kick-off the United Nations High-level Meeting on
Youth July 25-26
As part of the International Year of Youth, the UN General Assembly is
holding a High Level meeting this week with its overarching theme “Youth:
Dialogue and Mutual Understanding”. The world event is made up
of two consecutive informal interactive thematic panel discussions
addressing the following themes:
1. Strengthening international cooperation regarding youth and enhancing
dialogue, mutual understanding and active youth participation as
indispensable elements towards achieving social integration, full employment
and the eradication of poverty;
2. Challenges to youth development and opportunities for poverty
eradication, employment and sustainable development.
At the end of the High Level Meeting, Member States will adopt an
outcome document that is currently being negotiated between
Member States during informal consultations. Before the start of the
negotiation process between Member States, Youth-led organizations had been
invited to submit their inputs for the outcome document. The UN Program on
Youth had received inputs from 89 youth organizations, representing young
people all over the globe. For more info on High-Level Youth Meeting
Click Here
Fr. Pavone applauds youth prolife leaders at Holy See Mission
Official Side-Event pointing out that “our youth are not simply the
“future leaders” of the pro-life movement. They are leaders here
and now, in more ways than one.” None give greater evidence of
this than the young people the Holy See Mission gathered for their Official
Side-Event entitled Youth Protecting and Promoting Human Dignity.
H.E. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent
Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations made
opening remarks
and introduced five young speakers who discussed how they and their
organizations protect and promote human dignity.
Kristan Hawkins, the Executive Director of Students
for Life of America, will speak about her work promoting a culture of life
on college campuses around the United States.
Leah Darrow, former America’s Next Top Model
contestant, will speak about her own experience discovering the virtue of
modesty and the value of chastity in a western culture that idolizes
appearances and pleasure.
Meghan Knighton, a development officer at the
Catholic Near East Welfare Association, will speak about CNEWA’s work
highlighting the work of upholding human dignity that CNEWA undertakes,
including providing emergency shelter and medical care, micro-credit
programs, and charitable service of the sick and disabled.
Jeffrey Azize and Michael Campo, actor and
actor/producer respectively of the critically-acclaimed documentary “The
Human Experience,” will speak about their experiences traveling the world,
and how they learned from others – homeless in New York City, abandoned
children in Peru, and lepers of rural Ghana- what it means to be human.
For more info go to
Holy See Mission
C-FAM reported that 57,000 Young People sent a Protest Message
and presented a statement signed by 120,000. “We do not agree with
much of the document produced by governments for the High Level Meeting on
youth,” says Tyler Ament, Director of the International Youth Coalition. “We
also do not agree with the messages being put out by UN agencies like sex
rights for young people and other objectionable ideas.”
Ament and his colleagues presented a Youth Statement to the UN and the
World that has been signed by 120,000 people including 57,000 under the age
of 30. “The Youth Statement recognizes the rights of parents and calls for
policy makers to return to basics and get away from dangerous ideas that are
harmful to young people,” says Ament.
The International Youth Coalition is a group of young people from around
the world that celebrates the fact that humans are made in the image of God,
intrinsically relational, and are called to live a life with purpose and
meaning. Click for more info on
C-FAM and the
International Youth
Coalition.
June 11, 2011 – The United Nations held a General Assembly
High-Level Meeting on AIDS June 8 -10 in NY. Member States came
together ten years after the adoption of the Declaration of Commitment on
HIV/AIDS and five years after the adoption of the Political Declaration on
HIV/AIDS, to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS.
The Holy See Mission was actively involved in the assembly meeting and
Professor Jane Adolphe, Associate Professor of Law at Ave Maria School of
Law and a member of the Holy See Delegation, stated that the Holy See
“delegation remains committed to achieving the goal of halting and reversing
the spread of HIV by promoting the only universally effective, safe and
affordable means of halting the spread of the disease: abstinence before
marriage and mutual fidelity within marriage, avoiding risk taking and
irresponsible behaviors and promoting universal access to drugs which
prevent the spread of HIV from mother-to-child”. For the full Holy See
statement please
click
here. For more information from the UN on the High-Level Meeting
on AIDS
click here.
June 9, 2011 – The Holy See Mission’s Path to Peace Gala Dinner
drew record attendance at the New York Athletic Club. Fr. Frank
Pavone was again pleased to support the important work of the Path to Peace
Foundation this year by sending Bob Lalonde, Priests for Life’s
representative to the UN to the event. The Path to Peace Foundation was
established by Cardinal Renato Martino, former Permanent Observer of the
Holy See to the United Nations, to support the activities of the Holy See
Mission. Archbishop Chullikatt, the current Permanent Observer and Cardinal
Martino enthralled the capacity crowd with stories of their personal visits
with Pope John Paul II.
Please click here to view pictures and press release.
April 13, 2011 – With the United Nations 44th Commission on
Population and Development in full swing promoting a theme of “Fertility,
reproductive health, and development” Fr. Frank Pavone wholeheartedly came
out in support of yesterday’s statement by H.E. Archbishop Francis A.
Chullikatt, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See
“in favor of the adoption of policies which encourage marriages that are
open to and welcome children, and which also provide families the necessary
assistance in bearing and rearing children, including those with large
families”. The Apostolic Nuncio cautioned that “there is a
“distorted world-view [that] regards the poor as a problem to be
commoditized and managed as if they were inconsequential objects rather than
as unique persons with innate dignity and worth who require the full
commitment of the international community to provide assistance so that they
can realize their full potential”.
For the full statement read here.
Priests for Life is an accredited Non Governmental Organization and its
delegation is actively participating in the 44th Commission on Population
and Development taking place April 11-15.
This year’s theme is “Fertility, reproductive health, and
development.”
More on the conference here.
April 7, 2011 - Priests for Life participated in the Holy
See’s kick-off side event marking the start of the 44th Session of the
Commission on Population and Development at the United Nations in NY
with a panel discussion on Secure Human Development: Marriage, Family,
Community. H.E. Archbishop Francis A. Chullikatt, Apostolic Nuncio and
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations gave the opening
remarks reaffirming Church teaching that “…for integral human
development to take place, we must put people first. We must respect the
inherent dignity of each and every person, and we must recognize that the
true measure of authentic development in any society is how much it
protects, respects and promotes all human life including the unborn, the
disabled, the elderly, and all who are suffering.”
Full statement here
(pdf).
Expert panelists included Yuri Mantilla, L.L.M., Director of
International Government Affairs for Focus on the Family who addressed the
important topic of “The Right to Life and Development: A Latin American
Perspective”. Yuri was followed by Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D., Vice
President of Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute who dealt with the
strategic importance of "Demography and Development: How Falling
Fertility Affects Global Security" and Wendy Wright, President,
Concerned Women for America “Human Sexuality, Marriage, and Family from
a Woman’s Perspective.”
March 3, 2011 – Priests for Life statement to the Commission on
the Status of Women's panel on Elimination of
preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and the empowerment of women.
Progress is being made in eliminating maternal mortality and
morbidity, but the lives of women continue to be jeopardized by a lack of
access to health care. As the UN advances a new integrated approach to
health care, Priests for Life recognizes the critical role of faith based
organizations and urges respect and protection of the right of conscience.
The World Health Organization estimates that faith based organizations
provide as much as well over half of all health care services in countries
in Africa. Faith based organizations are critical partners in the global
effort to eliminate maternal mortality and their continued delivery of
maternal health care must be ensured. Attempts to impose induced abortion
and other programs that conflict with religious values and beliefs
interferes with fundamental rights and will detrimentally impact faith based
organizations. The protection of rights of conscience, belief and religion,
are enshrined in all international treaties and bodies, beginning with the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Belief in the sanctity of life and respect for the dignity for all human
beings - regardless of condition of dependency or disability or stage of
development - is the foundation that inspires and motivates most
organizations based on faith to deliver compassionate and competent health
care. Evidence shows that the provision of basic life-affirming maternal
health care - which necessarily excludes abortion - enables greater
reduction in maternal deaths and thus better protection of women and
children.
The intrinsic dignity of life is also the foundation of human rights. Our
commitment to human rights springs from our commitment to the protection,
affirmation, and defense of all human persons – those born and those
residing in the womb –as the Convention on the Rights of Child explicitly
reminds us. The provision of health care services that respect and affirm
the dignity of each and every human being are essential to continued
progress in reducing both maternal and child mortality. Nearly nine million
children - including 4 million newborns - die each year from preventable
causes. Efforts to save and promote the dignity and well-being of women must
also save and protect all children’s lives, both in and out of the womb.
Life at all stages of the life cycle must be valued and respected.
International organizations which perform illegal abortions, which advise
women on how to procure illegal abortions and which advocate for the
overturning of national laws on abortion are irreconcilable with the United
Nations, which exists to affirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the
dignity and worth of the human person.
It is our hope that the new Commission on Information and Accountability
for Women’s and Children’s Health will result in greater transparency and
accountability, will truly assist women to successfully and safely complete
their pregnancies and will ensure respect for sovereign laws which protect
the lives of vulnerable children in the womb.
Click here for pictures.
March 2 – 2011 - Holy See Representative Professor Jane Adolphe
addresses Women’s issues at CSW saying “The elimination of all
forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child”, she stated
that “all States must enact and enforce legislation to protect girls from
all forms of violence and exploitation, from conception onwards, including
abortion, especially sex-selective abortion, female infanticide.”
Full
statement here.
February 28, 2011 - Fr. Pavone dispatches representatives to UN
Commission on the Status of Women to make the point that “the lives of
women need to be valued and respected”. Priests for Life, a
registered non-governmental organization (NGO) at the United Nations (UN)
since 2003, is actively taking part in the fifty-fifth session of the
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) currently underway at the UN
Headquarters in New York City. CSW is a yearly meeting of representatives of
the 192 UN Member States who gather to discuss issues related to women’s
equality and advancement. Following the session, CSW submits recommendations
to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Regrettably, many have often
used CSW to advance the pro-abortion agenda, especially in the areas of
women’s health, equality and empowerment.
This theme of this year’s session is the “access and
participation of women and girls in education, training, science and
technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full
employment and decent work”. Janet Morana, Executive Director
for Priests for Life and representative to the UN, submitted a statement to
CSW which highlighted the fact that “the lives of women need to
be valued and respected,” particularly with respect to their
ability to bear children.
The PFL statement called for the availability of education and employment
for pregnant women and girls: “Woman-centered initiatives for
empowerment which include abortion are unacceptable and distract from
meeting the real needs of women. Our energies must focus on the daily
struggles women face not only in accessing education and employment but also
to ensure: access to clean water and adequate nutrition, access to
life-affirming health care, the provision of skilled birth attendants and
emergency obstetric care, protection of children, aid to those suffering
from HIV/AIDS, support for victims of violence, the rescuing of women
trapped in trafficking, laws to allow women to own and inherit land, and
enforcement of child support laws.”
Bob Lalonde, International Director and PFL UN representative, took part
in a related CSW Holy See side event on February 24 entitled
"Women's reproductive health as a gender, development and human rights
issue: regaining perspective”. The event, which was presided
over by Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer Mission of the
Holy See to the UN, was standing-room only. The session was moderated by the
Deputy Permanent Representative of St. Lucia to the UN, Sarah Flood-
Beaubrun, and included an expert panel that addressed issues of women’s
health from pro-woman pro-life perspective.
Additionally, PFL UN representative Marie Smith, Founder and Director of
the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues, a global outreach of Gospel
of Life Ministries/Priests for Life, was selected to participate in an
official CSW event on maternal mortality —Interactive Panel 5,
“Elimination of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and the
empowerment of women.” This event takes place on March 1 from
3:00pm to 6:00pm. CSW session runs through March 4th.
February 16, 2011 - Fr. Frank Pavone dispatched PFL’s UN Delegate
Bob Lalonde to participate, as an observer, to the forty-ninth session of
the Commission for Social Development taking place at the United Nations in
New York February 9 to 18 and help defend the rights of the unborn, “the
poorest of the poor”. PFL strongly supports the statement made by
Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the
United Nations “that “the deepest needs of the human person” go far beyond
food, water and shelter. Authentic social development hinges on respect for
the dignity of each human person.” The Holy See’s delegate to the conference
added “The Holy See delegate cited “the procreative and educational mission
of parents” and the consequent psychological and spiritual benefits enjoyed
by children who grow up in a healthy family. “The institution of the family,
which is a sine qua non for preparing the future generation, is being
challenged by many factors in the modern world and the family needs to be
defended and safeguarded.” The Holy See’s full statement can be found on its
website.
The Commission on Social Development is a subsidiary body of the U.N.
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) which meets on an annual basis. The
priority theme for thus year’s 49th Session of the Commission on Social
Development (CSocD) is poverty eradication. The Commission reports that
“since the World Summit for Social Development, in 1995, poverty eradication
has become the overarching objective of development. Despite the crisis, the
world is still on track to halve the proportion of the population living on
less than $1.25 a day by 2015.... Close to 900 million people will still be
living in extreme poverty by 2015, even if the global target is reached.”
More information on the Commission and the conference can be found on its
website.
November 11, 2010 - Janet Morana, Executive Director, Priests for
Life registered a written statement with the fifty-fifth session of the
Commission on the Status of Women to be held February 22 to March 4 2011 at
the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The statement is below:
We would like to thank the Commission on the Status
of Women for focusing on the critical areas which impact women’s lives
around the world and recognize that advancements in the basic areas of
education, job training and access to technology are ways to improve the
impoverished lives of women. Employment helps women to improve their lives
and rise from poverty. The astounding success of micro-credit loans across
the developing world amply illustrates the benefits of giving women the
chance to use their skills and economic empowerment results from access to
vocational training and job opportunities.
A woman who has a source of income is able to put
food on the table, educate her children and afford health care. She receives
respect from others in the community who look to her for leadership
resulting in political involvement and opportunities to help others in her
community and beyond. It is the currently accepted wisdom across the
spectrum of ideologies that when women and girls have access to education,
it is not only their lives that improve, but the lives of their children and
community. Education needs to be available to all girls and women to reduce
the unacceptably high female illiteracy rate. Education not only empowers
women with reading, writing skills and math skills but results in
self-confidence and empowerment which helps women assume leadership roles in
their communities. Education provides the most effective path out of
poverty.
Women who receive educational opportunities are
healthier and their children are healthier. Educated women have healthier
pregnancies and safer deliveries resulting in healthier newborns and in
reductions in both maternal and child mortality. Educated women are able to
make better decisions for themselves and their children. The areas of
education and employment are critical to improving lives and programs in
these areas must provide for the unique child-bearing capacity of women.
Pregnant girls must be allowed to receive an education and pregnant women
must not be threatened with job loss. Women must be allowed to fulfill their
innate capacity to bear children without penalty.
Abortion is not an acceptable solution to meeting the
educational and employment needs of women. The destruction of a woman’s
child through the violence of the abortion act does not result in true
empowerment. Rather, any so-called “reproductive freedom” gained through
abortion only anesthetizes and deadens the nurturing souls of women, forcing
them to accept oppression of their procreative lives. Abortion does little
to affirm the dignity of women – instead it separates their sexuality from
the intrinsic act of procreation and reduces them to mere machines to
satisfy male pleasure, with no connection to the emotional and spiritual
forces that are intrinsic to women’s identity.
Abortion can be emotionally crippling. Increasingly,
women who suffer the repercussions of abortion often describe it as violent
and brutal. There is grief, sadness, shame and anger. They resort to
self-destructive behaviors and numb themselves with alcohol and drugs. Some
re-enact their trauma through promiscuity and repeat abortions, trapped in a
cycle of abandonment, rejection, a sense of helplessness, and abuse. The
Alan Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood Federation
of America, recently revealed that 50 percent of all women who have an
abortion will go on to have another. Others attempt to repress their
feelings through eating disorders, depression, anxiety and attempted
suicide.
True women’s rights and freedom will never exist
until women’s reproductive capacity is valued and their children are
cherished by society and the men who father them. Violence against women
will never end until society recognizes the benefits of fashioning life,
instead of insisting upon its necessary destruction. Health care in any
form, including maternal health or reproductive health, that includes access
to abortion is not really health care at all. Abortion ends the life of one
patient and may injure the other physically, mentally, emotionally and
spiritually.
The dualistic rhetoric of abortion rights splits mind
from body, sexuality from procreation, pleasure from loving passion, and
mother from child. Health care that includes abortion threatens women and
their children with violence and abandonment. Abortion on demand has created
a mindset that killing is the solution to unwanted responsibility – not just
for the baby, but for the woman who won’t exercise her “freedom of choice”.
Men who refuse to accept their responsibility are enabled by abortion to
abandon women and treat them with disrespect and contempt often leading to
acts of violence and abuse.
Gender violence plagues the lives of women around the
world as far too many women suffer abuse and violence on a daily basis.
Cultural practices which de-value the life of the girl-child and deny her an
education must be stopped. Employment practices which discriminate against
women must end. Initiatives which seek to deny or destroy the inherent
procreative ability of women do not advance or empower women. Rather,
programs which include access to abortion treat women’s unique capabilities
as a problem rather than recognizing the universally valued role of women as
the bearers of a country’s future, its children.
Woman-centered initiatives for empowerment which
include abortion are unacceptable and distract from meeting the real needs
of women. Our energies must focus on the daily struggles women face not only
in accessing education and employment but also to ensure: access to clean
water and adequate nutrition, access to life-affirming health care, the
provision of skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric care,
protection of children, aid to those suffering from HIV/AIDS, support for
victims of violence, the rescuing of women trapped in trafficking, laws to
allow women to own and inherit land, and enforcement of child support laws.
Progress in these areas would do infinitely more for
women than insisting on universal access to abortion. The lives of women
need to be valued and respected. Women should not have to deny their
feminine nature, be made to feel second class to men, or be penalized for
their unique procreative capacity. Women should be affirmed for their female
nature; their lives should be respected throughout the life cycle and they
should be assisted in the critical role of mother. Education and employment
should be available to women and girls while affirming and providing for—and
not penalizing—their unique role and capacity.
October 20, 2010 – Reception for Archbishop Francis Chullikatt
Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations, was hosted by Catholic
Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) and Focus on the Family and Fr.
Frank Pavone sent Bob Lalonde, Priests for Life UN Delegate to represent
Priests for Life. Archbishop Chullikatt was appointed by the Holy Father on
July 17 and arrived in New York in September. C-FAM commented “The prolife
community is so pleased Archbishop Chullikatt has been chosen by Pope
Benedict XVI to head Holy See diplomatic efforts at the United Nations.
Archbishop Chullikatt comes to us from Iraq where for many years he served
heroically as Apostolic Nuncio to that war torn country”.
September 28, 2010 - Cardinal Renato Martino, former Permanent
Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations (1986 to 2002) and President
Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace paid a
visit to Fr. Frank Pavone and the pastoral team at PFL’s Headquarters. To
read more about his important visit please see On The
Frontlines.
May 19, 2010 - Fr. Frank Pavone sent PFL UN Delegate Bob Lalonde
as an observer to the UN’s Sixty-third session of the World Health Assembly
in Geneva. At this session, the Health Assembly discussed a number
of public health issues, including monitoring of the achievement of the
health-related Millennium Development Goals. Bob also met with Archbishop
Silvano Tomasi, the Apostolic Nuncio to the UN in Geneva.
March 8, 2010 - Dr. Alveda King addressed the United Nations on
the topic of Motherhood on the occasion of International Woman's Day.
Dr King spoke to a full assembly and said “No matter what great
accomplishments women achieve, there simply is no more important role for us
than motherhood—loving, nurturing, and raising the next generation. To
ensure a brighter tomorrow, we must affirm and support motherhood in
whatever policies or programs we devise.” For Dr. King’s complete statement
and pictures of the event please see On The
Frontlines.
September 2, 2009 - Archbishop Celestino Migliore,
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations received
PFL Associate Director Fr. Denis Wilde, OSA, and Special Advisor to the
Director, Bob Lalonde at the Mission in mid-town Manhattan. The three met
for an hour to explore channels of collaboration between Priests for Life
and the Holy See's chief executive to the international body in matters
relating to the dignity and defense of human life. See a picture of the
meeting at On The
Frontlines.
June 9, 2009 - Priests for Life Participates in
Successful gathering of over 400 at the Vatican sponsored UN Path to Peace
Foundation –
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of
the Holy See to the United Nations and President of the Path to Peace
Foundation presided over the gathering of over 400 world leaders at its 17th
Path to Peace Award. Cardinal Renato R. Martino, President of the Pontifical
Council for Justice and Peace and former head of the Path to Peace
Foundation was also in attendance. A posthumous award was given to
Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho from Iraq who was kidnapped in Mosul and later
killed. Fox commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano also received the Servitor
Pacis Award and made remarks about the importance of defending sacred life
in the womb.
Bob Lalonde and Michele Velasco, who assist Fr. Pavone in directing the
international growth of Priests for Life, were present at the event.
Click here for photos
March 2009 - Status of Woman (CSW) The Obama
administration was pushing its “sexual and reproductive health” agenda at
the United Nation’s Annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) March 2-
13 in New York. (See C-FAM’s
article.) As usual, C-FAM and its allies played an important role
educating participants on the sanctity of life in the deliberations. PFL was
present for some of the deliberations and helped sponsor lunches for the
courageous army of 50 students from Ave Maria Law School, St. Thomas Moore
Law School, Christendom College and Overbrook Academy.
February 2008 - Status of Woman (CSW) –While Priests for
Life works within the United Nations, our ministries raise awareness about
abortion’s negative impact outside UN meetings. During the United Nations’
February 2008 Commission on the Status of Women Conference, "Financing For
Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women", our
Silent No
More Awareness Campaign held an event near UN headquarters. Many women
held signs “I regret my abortion” for UN delegates to witness and spoke
publicly about the emotional and physical pain inflicted by abortion.
Important Statements from the UN Social, Humanitarian & Cultural
Committee
Typically referred to as the Third Committee, the Social, Humanitarian &
Cultural Committee has been meeting throughout October 2008 at the UN in New
York. PFL was there to support C-FAM and other international pro life groups
such as SPUC (Society for the Protection of the Unborn) actively
participating and reporting on all the events.
Read C-FAM’s
report and the two important life affirming statements from the
ambassadors of
Malta and
Fiji.
LEARN MORE
To learn more about the role of NGOs, visit the official website for the
United
Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs - NGO Section. Also
available is a calendar of
meetings and
events.
The
Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See To the United Nations website
offers background on the Holy See’s involvement at the UN, statements from
the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, position papers, and magisterial
texts on the Catholic Church’s social agenda.
Additionally, the
Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) is an organization
dedicated to the research and dissemination of information related to United
Nations activities and publications to the broader society, including the
media. Read about their activities, and receive their weekly update.
Click here to read Fr. Frank’s column on The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights 1948-2008 marking the occasion of its 60th anniversary.
Also read the Press Release:
The United Nations Grants Priests for Life NGO Status
