Archbishop says vision of 'Populorum Progressio' not yet realized

Published: 2007-10-19

UNITED NATIONS (CNS) -- If Pope Paul VI reappeared on earth to assess progress toward meeting the challenges he addressed in his 1967 social encyclical, "Populorum Progressio," he would say: "You've done a lot, but you haven't even started -- and you've lost a lot of enthusiasm." That was the conclusion of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Ireland, in an Oct. 17 speech at a side event to the 62nd session of the U.N. General Assembly. Titled "Development: The New Name for Peace," the event was organized by the Holy See's Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations and co-sponsored by the Path to Peace Foundation. "Our current family of nations is a dysfunctional family," said the archbishop, who was formerly Vatican nuncio to U.N. agencies in Geneva. "The existing structures (for the governance of global goods) are often inadequate, politically weighted in one direction or the other, and at times they work against one another. ... (The family members) do not have the courage to move forward."

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