VATICAN CITY: Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi C.S., Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations at Geneva, spoke on 10 December before the ordinary session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which throughout 2008 is commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (signed in Paris on 10 December 1948).
Speaking English, Archbishop Tomasi indicated that the declaration "remains the single most important reference point for cross-cultural discussion of human freedom and dignity in the world and represents the customary-law base for any discussion about human rights".
The rights presented in the declaration "are not conferred by States or other institutions but they are acknowledged as inherent to every person, independent of, and in many ways the result of ethical, social, cultural and religious traditions.
"Human dignity concerns democracy and sovereignty, but goes at the same time beyond them", he said. It requires everyone concerned "to work for freedom, equality, social justice for all human beings, while respecting the world's cultural and religious mosaic. The very fact that we share a common human dignity provides the indispensable base that sustains the inter-relatedness and indivisibility of human rights, social, civil and political, cultural and economic".
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights "recognises that the respect of all human rights is the source of peace.... Peace is not only conceived as an absence of violence but includes also co-operation and solidarity, at the local and international levels, as a necessary way in order to promote and to defend the common good of all people.
"Sixty years after the declaration", the archbishop added, "many members of the human family are still far from the enjoyment of their rights and basic needs. Human security is still not ensured". This sixtieth anniversary, he concluded, may serve to show "that every person, as an individual or as a member of a community, has the right and the responsibility to defend and implement all human rights". (VIS, January 8, 2008)

Japanese Salesian in Bolivia 'unbelievably happy' serving poor
One in four Bolivians is forced to seek work abroad and 70 percent of the population lives in poverty. Fr. Terunobu Kurahashi, 70, is a Japanese Salesian who has spent 27 years working in Bolivia.
The priest's day starts before six o'clock each morning and he says Mass, administers the sacraments, performs blessings, visits the sick and people in prison, and directs people involved in religious education before his day ends at 10:00 pm. As a school chaplain, he is responsible for the spiritual welfare of 6,400 children. Along with two American priests he coordinates pastoral activities of the parish of Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz province. The parish has one church and nine mission stations serving a Catholic population of over 60,500 people, and every day poor people come to him looking for assistance and advice.
"I cannot refuse children who sleep on the streets, elderly people and unmarried mothers and the poor who come to me saying, 'give me some food,' 'help me!' But I can only give them very little. When you are truly in need and think, 'I have no money, what shall I do,' God often helps us in unexpected ways. Every day I pray, 'God help us!'"
The first indigenous president of Bolivia took office in January 2006. Government changed to the social democracy movement (MAS), and since all public officials were replaced, political and economic confusion continued, prices rose, and the lives of the poor who already did not have enough to eat became increasingly difficult. The new government tried to expand the rights of indigenous peoples who had been oppressed for 400 years, but "emotional problems" surfaced among the various ethnic groups.
"Quarrels broke out in some places, some prefectures had strikes against the central government, and in some places it seems that all social services ceased to function," said the priest.
There was no political unrest in the parish of Santa Cruz, but in one year the price of rice tripled, food prices rose, and there was a large increase in crime and in the number of people suffering from malnourishment.
There are many street children in Bolivia. Sometimes when parents have to leave home to work they entrust their children to relatives and then children run away because of friction with them. In other cases, while the father is away working the family breaks up. To supplement family income children begin selling newspapers from an early age on the streets, shining shoes, watching cars or other such jobs.
"Like other religious congregations and organizations, the Salesians are trying to help street children and are developing a project to build public schools in poor areas around the country," Fr. Kurahashi said. "Where schools have been built, children are now able to go to school in five minutes when formerly they had to walk about five kilometers." To read More...