Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale1060

that the activity of FAO will respond ever more fully to the human family's

yearning for solidarity, justice and peace.

II

Ad Primum Forum inter Institutiones Non-Publicas Catholicas.*

Your Excellencies,

Representatives of the Holy See to International Organizations,

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to greet all of you who are assembled in Rome to reflect on

the contribution which Catholic-inspired Non-governmental Organizations

can offer, in close collaboration with the Holy See, to the solution of the

many problems and challenges associated with the various activities of the

United Nations and other international and regional organizations. To each

of you I offer a cordial welcome. In a particular way I thank the Substitute of

the Secretariat of State, who has graciously interpreted your common senti-

ments, while at the same time informing me of the goals of your Forum. I also

greet the young representative of the Non-governmental Organizations

present.

Taking part in this important meeting are representatives of groups long

associated with the presence and activity of the Catholic laity at the inter-

national level, along with members of other, more recent groups which have

come into being as part of the current process of global integration. Also

present are groups mainly committed to advocacy, and others chiefly con-

cerned with the concrete management of cooperative projects promoting

development. Some of your organizations are recognized by the Church as

public and private associations of the lay faithful, others share in the charism

of certain institutes of consecrated life, while still others enjoy only civil

recognition and include non-Catholics and non-Christians among their mem-

bers. All of you, however, have in common a passion for promoting human

dignity. This same passion has constantly inspired the activity of the Holy

* Die 1 Decembris 2007.