Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 1061

See in the international community. The real reason for the present meeting,

then, is to express gratitude and appreciation for what you are doing in

active collaboration with the papal representatives to international organiza-

tions. In addition, this meeting seeks to foster a spirit of cooperation among

your organizations and consequently the effectiveness of your common ac-

tivity on behalf of the integral good of the human person and of all humanity.

This unity of purpose can only be achieved through a variety of roles and

activities. The multilateral diplomacy of the Holy See, for the most part,

strives to reaffirm the great fundamental principles of international life, since

the Church's specific contribution consists in helping ''to form consciences in

political life and to stimulate greater insight into the authentic requirements

of justice as well as greater readiness to act accordingly''.1 On the other hand,

''the direct duty to work for a just ordering of society is proper to the lay

faithful'' - and in the context of international life this includes Christian

diplomats and members of Non-governmental Organizations - who ''are

called to take part in public life in a personal capacity'' and ''to configure

social life correctly, respecting its legitimate autonomy and cooperating with

other citizens according to their respective competences and fulfilling their

own responsibility''.2

International cooperation between governments, which was already

emerging at the end of the nineteenth century and which grew steadily

throughout the last century despite the tragic disruption of two world wars,

has significantly contributed towards the creation of a more just interna-

tional order. In this regard, we can look with satisfaction to achievements

such as the universal recognition of the juridical and political primacy of

human rights, the adoption of shared goals regarding the full enjoyment of

economic and social rights by all the earth's inhabitants, the efforts being

made to develop a just global economy and, more recently, the protection of

the environment and the promotion of intercultural dialogue.

At the same time, international discussions often seem marked by a rela-

tivistic logic which would consider as the sole guarantee of peaceful coexi-

stence between peoples a refusal to admit the truth about man and his

dignity, to say nothing of the possibility of an ethics based on recognition

1 Deus Caritas Est, 28. 2 Ibid., 29.