The International Community, Organization

THE CHURCH IN GENERAL views the role of international intergovernmental organizations (such as the United Nations) in a positive manner, since these seek to apply law or reason to the resolution of international conflicts or problems relating to the common good of all nations and peoples. But to a certain extent, the Church is the "loyal opposition" of those intergovernmental organizations. She has deep-seated "reservations," expressions of which she does not withhold, when these intergovernmental organizations "address problems incorrectly" by contradicting the natural moral law, infringing upon authentic human rights and human dignity, or infringing upon the rights of the Church and its propagation of the Gospel. She hammers the following truths:

[T]he Holy See seeks to focus attention on certain basic truths: that each and every person - regardless of age, sex, religion or national background - has a dignity and worth that is unconditional and inalienable; that human life itself from conception to natural death is sacred; that human rights are innate and transcend any constitutional order; and that the fundamental unity of the human race demands that everyone be committed to building a community which is free from injustice and which strives to promote and protect the common good. . . . . It is in the light of authentic human values - recognized by peoples of diverse cultures, religious and national backgrounds across the globe - that all policy choices must be evaluated. No goal or policy will bring positive results for people if it does not respect the unique dignity and objective needs of those same people.

JP II, Letter to Mafis Sadik, March 18, 1994 (re. 1994 International Conference on Population and Development)

United Nations Headquarters, N.Y., N.Y.

It is not might, but right that ought to govern relations between peoples and nations, and this is the underlying reason behind the Church's general if conditional support for continued development of intergovernmental organizations and international agencies.

Concern for an ordered and peaceful coexistence within the human family prompts the Magisterium to insist on the need to establish "some universal public authority acknowledged as such by all and endowed with effective power to safeguard, on the behalf of all, security, regard for justice, and respect for rights."

(Compendium, No. 441)(quoting VII, GS No. 82)

International relations will either operate under the rule of reason, i.e, the rule of law, or some rule outside of reason, i.e., exlex. There is no exercise of power or authority or influence, however, that may be said to be outside law, in particular the natural moral law. Natural law does not come from heaven ready-made, and man is obliged to implement its basic principles in determinations in the here-and-now. For this reason:

Political authority exercised at the level of international community must be regulated by law, ordered to the common good, and respectful of the principle of subsidiarity.

(Compendium, No.441)

It is important that this rule of law grow naturally from the relations between nations and peoples; that it be endogenous and not be exogenous.

[I]t is essential that such an authority arise from mutual agreement and that it not be imposed, nor must it be understood as a kind of "global super-State."

(Compendium, No. 441)

Whatever develops in the future (if it develops)* must respect the sovereignty of the nation states and of peoples, respecting further, the principle of subsidiarity: Quoting John XXIII's encyclical Pacem in terris, the Compendium observes:

"The public authority of the world community is not intended to limit the sphere of action of the public authority of the individual political community, much less to take its place. On the contrary, its purpose is to create, on a world basis, an environment in which the public authorities of each political community, their citizens and intermediate associations can carry out their tasks, fulfill their duties and exercise their rights with greater security."

(Compendium, No. 441)

To a certain extent, the international organizations and institutions have been captured or manipulated so that they work against their very purpose, which is not the benefit of one group over another, but the common good. To a certain degree, the international organizations and agencies have shrugged off the moral limits under which they ought to operated:

The Magisterium recognizes that the interdependence among men and nations takes on a moral dimension and is the determining factor for relations in the modern world in the economic, cultural, political and religious sense. In this context it is hoped that there will be a revision of international organizations, a process that "presupposes the overcoming of political rivalries and the renouncing of all desire to manipulate these organizations, which exist solely for the common good," for the purpose of achieving "a greater degree of international ordering."

(Compendium, No. 442) (quoting JP II, Sollicitudo rei socialis, No. 43)

This "revision" is particularly important in the economic sphere. Political power tends to follow economic power. Moreover, the economic sphere clearly extends beyond the political spheres of the nation states. It is, in fact, inter-national in scope. For this reason:

[I]ntergovernmental structures must effectively perform their functions of control and guidance in the economic field because the attainment of the common good has become a goal that is beyond the reach of individual States, even if they are dominant in terms of power, wealth, and political strength. International agencies must moreover guarantee the attainment of that equality which is the basis of the right of all to participate in the process of full development, duly respecting legitimate differences.

(Compendium, No. 442) (citations omitted)

Some of the more significant players in the international scene are the NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations). Properly ordered, the NGOs can enjoy an independence from national or economic chauvinism, and so they tend to be a counterweight to political or economic self-regard.

The Magisterium positively evaluates the associations that have formed in civil society in order to shape public opinion in its awareness of the various aspects of international life, with particular attention paid to the respect of human rights, as seen in "the number of recently established private associations, some worldwide in membership, almost all of them devoted to monitoring with great care and commendable objectivity what is happening internationally in this sensitive field."

Governments should feel encouraged by such commitments, which seek to put into practice the ideals underlying the international community, "particularly through the practical gestures of solidarity and peace made by the many individuals also involved in Non-Governmental Organizations and in Movements for human rights."

(Compendium, No. 443) (quoting JP II, Sollicitudo rei socialis, 26 and 2004 World Day of Peace Message, 7)

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*There are some real impediments to the development of an international political authority. Perhaps most patent (representing the elephant in the global room) is Islam. Islam's divine positivism rejects the notion of human rights built upon natural law, since it views these as limited by, or defined by, Shari'a. Islam's dual ethic does not mesh well, if at all, with the universal ethic of Christianity which provides the basis of the Church's vision. Its unjustified chauvinism is not conducive to dialogue. Finally, its advocacy of violence and end-justifies-the-means morality is a severe impediment to world peace. Perhaps Islam more than materialistic secularism presents the greatest threat to international peace.