Column Measure of human rights is in actions, not words
By THOMAS C. FOX
Dec. 10 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United
Nations in response to the atrocities of the Second World War.>
The document represented a high achievement and offered great
promise. The declaration sets down the human rights considered fundamental to
the dignity and development of every human being. These range from economic
rights, such as the right to work and the right to an adequate standard of
living, to political rights, such as freedom of opinion, expression and
association. They include civil rights, such as equality before the law, and
social or cultural rights, such as the right to education and to participate in
the cultural life of the community.
In effect, the nations leaders promised one another to work
toward a world without cruelty and injustice; a world without hunger and
ignorance; a world of justice and reconciliation.
Much has been achieved in the last half century. Struggles against
colonialism and apartheid have changed the map of the world. Mass movements
against race and gender discrimination have transformed societies. The
principles enshrined in the declaration have become a rallying cry for
activists and ordinary people worldwide.
Unfortunately, for many more millions the declaration remains
little more than platitudes. It is, at best, an unfulfilled promise for the 1.3
billion people who struggle to survive on less than one dollar a day; for the
35,000 children who die of malnutrition and preventable diseases every day; for
the billion adults who cannot read or write; for jailed prisoners of
conscience; for murdered catechists; for torture victims; for inmates lingering
on death rows.
Vatican statements have long focused on the essential importance
of human dignity. Religious orders have been exemplary in advocating human
rights throughout the world. Differences between the Vatican and the United
Nations on abortion and population issues have obscured the fact that for 50
years the Vatican and the United Nations have largely advanced the same social
and economic agendas.
Ambassadors from the Holy See were present at the adoption of the
universal declaration. The Vatican has repeatedly affirmed its support for the
subordinate agencies of the United Nations, such as the World Health
Organization, UNICEF, UNESCO and the several entities related to refugees.
It has had a close relationship with the Food and Agriculture
Organization, based in Rome. It was the fifth nation to sign the U.N. Covenant
on the Rights of the Child. It has been a leading advocate of disarmament and
Third World debt forgiveness. It has been in the forefront of efforts for a
drastic reordering of the worlds economies and, more recently, in urging
the abolition of the death penalty.
Meanwhile, the stories of religious and laity struggling on behalf
of human rights, whether in Central America, Africa or in some U.S. inner
cities, get told each week in the pages of NCR. Indeed, no other theme
has emerged more consistently from NCRs pages during its 34-year
history.
Many Catholic religious orders and church organizations have
focused their ministries on living out a human rights commitment. Two of these
groups are the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Conference of
Major Superiors of Men in the United States.
These two organizations will join forces to sponsor an assembly
Aug. 20-22 in Milwaukee in connection with the 50th anniversary of the United
Nations Declaration on Human Rights. The assembly will focus on the roles
religious individuals and communities have played in advancing human rights in
recent years.
For the leaders of the religious organizations represented in the
two conferences, it should be a time to take satisfaction in achievements
accomplished. No doubt, it will also be a time to harness creative energies to
determine future paths.
In some ways, the story of the Catholic church and its relation to
the human rights issues of our time parallels that of the wider human family.
Lofty and inspiring words have been written; some have advanced from words to
commitment and achievement.
The task that lies ahead is to spread the words and find the means
to make them come alive -- to open hearts and minds to the central
understanding that when any person falls victim to a rights violation, all of
us do.
Readers interested in the full text of the Universal Declaration
on Human Rights will find it here on NCR Online. Click on the Documents
button.
Tom Fox is publisher of NCR.
National Catholic Reporter, July 31,
1998
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