NEW YORK, November 1, 2002 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Archbishop Renato Martino, the Vatican’s permanent observer at the United Nations addressed the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday noting that population growth is not a significant obstacle to or burden on the development of poor nations. Moreover, the Archbishop noted that the U.N.‘s war against population growth harms the poor. Archbishop Martino, called attention to paragraph 22 in the U.N.‘s Millennium Development Goals which reads: “Social obstacles can also be powerful impediments to economic development and poverty eradication. Among these, some of the most significant are population growth and a lack of access to education and health care.” He said the Vatican “cannot agree with the statement.” He continued, “It is not so much the growth of the population that becomes an obstacle to and a burden upon development.” Concluding his point he said: “In fact, it is the position of the Holy See that the statement found in the Report is not only untrue but harmful to those struggling to overcome the burdens of poverty and the vulnerability that comes with it. If the world would experience a zero population growth over the next thirteen years does the author of this Report actually believe that the goals and targets set at the Millennium Summit would suddenly be met? Can anyone actually believe this?”
See the full text of the Archbishop’s intervention at: https://www.holyseemission.org/30oct2002.html