NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- In a message to the United Nations, for today's opening of the 53rd working session of the General Assembly, Pope John Paul II called for "universal acceptance" of the Declaration on Human Rights, adopted at the UN 50 years ago.

      The Pontiff said that the historic Declaration was an illustration of "the progress of the human family." The document, he observed, recognized "that every human being has transcendent and inalienable rights, which are not privileges conceded by states or government."

      The papal message was read during an ecumenical prayer service in New York's Holy Family Church, with Cardinal John O'Connor presiding, before the formal opening of the General Assembly. Archbishop Renato Martino, the Holy See's delegate to the UN, also participated, along with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the outgoing and incoming presidents of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko and Didier Operti.