March 6, 2015
Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Vatican nuncio to the United Nations, smiles during an interview with Catholic News Service at the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the U.N. in New York City March 3. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
NEW YORK (CNS) — The Vatican is a credible and admired presence at the United Nations because it speaks from practical experience, according to the Holy See’s permanent observer to the U.N.
“Our network on the ground lends credibility to what we say,” said Archbishop Bernardito Auza.
As a nonvoting member since 1964, the Vatican maintains total neutrality and equal friendship with all nations, with an “overall goal of bringing the leaven of the Gospel and the church’s own experience of humanity to the complex reality of international relations and debates about the problems our world faces,” he said.