c. 1998 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY _ Pope John Paul II is calling for urgent international action to protect the rights of individuals and states in an increasingly globalized world economy.

In his annual World Day of Peace message, released Tuesday (Dec. 15) for the New Year’s Day observance, he put a strong emphasis on economic rights while also touching on the rights to education, employment and development along with the rights to life, religious freedom and a healthy environment. He denounced consumerism, political corruption, repression of minorities, war and its consequences.

The message,”Respect for Human Rights: The Secret of True Peace,”did not suggest what kind of action should be taken in response to the emerging global economy, but made clear the pope believed the poor have been made to pay too high a price in recent economic upheavals.”The rapid advance towards the globalization of economic and financial systems,”John Paul said,”illustrates the urgent need to establish who is responsible for guaranteeing the global common good and the exercise of economic and social rights.”The free market by itself cannot do this because, in fact, there are many human needs which have no place in the market,”he said.

The pope noted that the economic and financial crises of recent months had reduced”countless people”to conditions of extreme poverty.”Many of them had only just reached a position which allowed them to look to the future with optimism. Through no fault of their own, they have seen these hopes cruelly dashed, with tragic results for themselves and their children.” Pointing to the serious”effects of fluctuations in the financial markets,”the pontiff said,”We urgently need a new vision of global progress in solidarity, which will include an overall and sustainable development of society, so as to enable all people to realize their potential.” John Paul also urged”an immediate and vigorous effort”to free as many poor nations as possible from the”intolerable situation”of international debt by the year 2000.”I make a pressing appeal to all those with responsibility for financial relations on the worldwide level,”he said.”I ask them to make a sincere effort to find a solution to the frightening problem of the international debt of the poorest nations.” The pope urged broad support for the attempts international financial institutions are now making to relieve the debt burden.”I appeal to all those involved in this problem, especially the more affluent nations, to provide the support necessary to ensure the full success of this initiative,”he said.

The right to work is also fundamental, the pope said. But, he said,”countless people in many parts of the world find themselves caught up in the devastating reality of unemployment.”It is urgently necessary on the part of everyone, and particularly on the part of those who exercise political or economic power, that everything possible be done to resolve this difficult situation.” Although the poor and jobless may need assistance, welfare in itself is not enough, the pope said.”Efforts must also be made to enable the poor to take responsibility for their own livelihood and to be freed from a system of demeaning assistance programs.” John Paul called the repression of minorities”a particularly serious form of discrimination.”Although he did not refer to any specific country or region in the message, his words most clearly evoked the conflicts in former Yugoslavia and the present situation in Kosovo.”One of the most tragic forms of discrimination is the denial to ethnic and national minorities of the fundamental right to exist as such,”he said.”This is done by suppressing them or brutally forcing them to move or by attempting to weaken their ethnic identity to such an extent that they are no longer distinguishable.”Can we remain silent in the face of such grave crimes against humanity?”the pope asked.”No effort must be judged too great when it is a question of putting an end to such abuses, which are violations of human dignity.” John Paul praised as”a positive sign”the decision earlier this year at a meeting in Rome to establish an International Criminal Court to try and punish”those responsible for crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and crimes of war and aggression.” At the root of human rights, the pope said, is respect for human dignity. Lack of respect can lead to totalitarianism at one extreme and a heedless consumerism at the other, he warned.”The history of our time has shown in a tragic way the danger which results from forgetting the truth about the human person,”the pope said.”Before our eyes we have the results of ideologies such as Marxism, Nazism and Fascism and also of myths like racial superiority, nationalism and ethnic exclusivism,”he said.”No less pernicious, though not always as obvious,”he said,”are the effects of materialistic consumerism, in which the exaltation of the individual and the selfish satisfaction of personal aspirations become the ultimate goal of life. In this outlook, the negative effects on others are considered completely irrelevant.” Stressing the right to religious freedom, the pope said, however, that”Recourse to violence in the name of religious belief is a perversion of the very teachings of the major religions.”

DEA END POLK