Coverage of the United Nations speech by Pope
Benedict XVI was extremely lacking in critical analysis. None of the stories
that Accuracy in Media surveyed in the major newspapers alluded to the fact
that while the Pope had just finished apologizing for the Catholic Church sex
abuse scandal in several U.S.
appearances, his speech to the U.N. ignored the history of rapes of women and children
committed by its so-called military “peacekeepers.” This has been a major U.N.
scandal for years. 

The Pope met with American victims of mostly
homosexual Catholic priests, but said nothing about the victims of the
U.N. 
 
A Danish documentary, “And the U.N. Came,”
blames U.N. troops for creating the AIDS crisis in Cambodia. The film documents how
U.N. soldiers spread the disease by having sex with local citizens, children,
and prostitutes. Asked about the conduct of U.N. soldiers, one U.N. official is
shown saying, “Boys will be boys.”
 
Instead of addressing this scandal, Benedict
called on the flawed and corrupt body to exercise a military doctrine known as
the “Responsibility to Protect” people in trouble. This is one part of the
speech that made news. It means the Vatican has endorsed the concept of
the U.N. acquiring more power and influence, including of a military nature.
Our media failed to point out that, generally speaking, the U.N. is considered
incompetent or worse in military affairs. The 1994 Rwanda genocide, carried out under
the noses of U.N. officials and peacekeepers, is considered the most notorious
example. 
 
In another curious development, at least for
Catholics, Benedict ignored the world body’s devotion to population control through
abortion and said that “My presence at this [U.N. General] Assembly is a sign
of esteem for the United Nations, and it is intended to express the hope that
the Organization will increasingly serve as a sign of unity between States and
an instrument of service to the entire human family.”

While Benedict talked a lot in his U.N. speech
about human rights, he ignored the fact that the world body is crusading for an
“international right to abortion” worldwide. His predecessor, John Paul II, had
referred to a “conspiracy against life” based at the U.N.

The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute
(C-FAM), which monitors U.N. affairs, has documented the involvement of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) in coercive birth control
programs, including forced abortion, in China. The Vatican
suspended its own financial support for another U.N. agency, the U.N.
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), after accusing the agency of involvement in abortion
activities. Benedict said nothing about these controversies, however.

Benedict even associated Jesus Christ with the
work of the U.N., saying that the “search for the right way to order human
affairs” is “motivated by the hope drawn from the saving work of Jesus Christ”
and “That is why the Church is happy to be associated with the activity of this
distinguished Organization, charged with the responsibility of promoting peace
and good will throughout the earth.” In fact, the U.N. has been dubbed “the
House that Hiss built” because of the role that Soviet spy and State Department
official Alger Hiss played in founding the organization. 

In a major journalistic faux pas, Tracy
Wilkinson and Maggie Farley of the Los Angeles Times tried to draw a contrast
between the Pope and the “secular institution” at which he spoke. In fact, the
U.N. includes a “Meditation
Room” with strange lights and a large square block of stone where U.N. officials
are alleged to come into contact with cosmic or spiritual forces. The “Environmental
Sabbath” program, administered by the U.N. Environment Program, advised
children to hold hands and meditate around a tree.

On October 27, 2005, at United Nations
headquarters in New York,
a special event was held in celebration of “The Spirit of the United Nations.”
Open to all U.N. staff and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the program
featured an opening “blessing song on behalf of indigenous peoples,” an
expression of “thanks to Mother Earth,” and a moment of silence.

The main organizers were
the Values Caucus of the U.N. and the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and
Global Concerns. The latter is a project of the Conference of NGOs in
Consultative Relationship with the United Nations and its Spiritual Council for
Global Challenges.

The Pope explicitly endorsed the Responsibility
to Protect, known by the acronym R2P, a doctrine endorsed by the U.N. in 2005
and designed to help the world body assume the powers of a world government.
The World Federalist Movement,
which has promoted world government, global taxes and a United Nations Army,
has cultivated international acceptance of the concept.

In the most explicit part of the speech
explaining and accepting the R2P concept, the Pope said that “Every State has
the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained
violations of human rights, as well as from the consequences of humanitarian
crises, whether natural or man-made. If States are unable to guarantee such
protection, the international community must intervene with the juridical means
provided in the United Nations Charter and in other international instruments.
The action of the international community and its institutions, provided that
it respects the principles undergirding the international order, should never
be interpreted as an unwarranted imposition or a limitation of sovereignty.”

Ironically, the development of the R2P principle
has been attributed to former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who, as
director of peacekeeping at the world body, failed to authorize U.N. troops on
the ground in Rwanda
to stop genocide there.

Going beyond the military issue, Benedict made a
plea for global institutions to run the planet, saying we need “binding
international rules” and “structures capable of harmonizing the day-to-day
unfolding of the lives of peoples.” Sounding like Al Gore, the Pope also called
for “international action to preserve the environment and to protect various
forms of life on earth…” He said this is how humans can “rediscover the
authentic image of creation.”

Strangely, the Pope ignored the problem of
Kosovo, where the R2P doctrine, in a different form, was carried out by
President Clinton when he authorized U.S.
military action through NATO to dismember the former Yugoslavia. The military
intervention, which was based on phony claims of genocide being waged by the
Christian Serbs, was conducted without the advance approval of either the U.N.
Security Council or the U.S. Congress. Serbia agreed to an international
settlement that was supposed to guarantee its sovereignty over Kosovo.

But in Kosovo, which has declared independence
as a result of a U.N.-supervised process and has been under NATO occupation, a
major controversy has emerged over the writing of its
new constitution, an early draft of which explicitly outlawed unborn human
rights. Article 24 of the Constitution affirms special rights based on “sexual
orientation.” It also subjects “human rights and fundamental freedoms” to the
jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights and various “international
bodies.” Article 22 ratifies U.N. treaties, including the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and confirms they “have priority” over
domestic law. CEDAW has been interpreted to recognize abortion on demand, while
the children’s rights treaty authorizes government interference in the raising
of children.

Kosovo’s new Constitution declares it a
“secular” state, even though the majority of its population is Islamic,
Christian churches have been destroyed and Saudi Arabia is financing the
building of mosques there. The document was written by outside foreign
“experts,” including Tufts University Professor Bruce Hitchner and members of
the Public International Law
and Policy Group. This organization is supported by leftist billionaire
George Soros’ Open Society Institute, the U.S. taxpayer-financed U.S.
Institute of Peace, and other groups.

Despite the Pope’s support for the R2P concept,
the Vatican
has yet to recognize the independence of Kosovo, where a small Catholic
community resides.
      

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