Episcopal Press and News
Religion Editors Guest of U.N.
Episcopal News Service. November 30, 1978 [78344]
THE UNITED NATIONS, N. Y. -- "When you tell people they are God's people, and they begin to believe it, you have to provide a political support system that permits them to realize it," said Ambassador Andrew Young, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, to a group of religion editors who had gathered at the UN for a two-day seminar.
Ambassador Young was speaking of some of the tensions and problems which faced the developing countries of the world, especially in Africa, and of the failure of Christian leaders to speak forthrightly about human rights throughout the world.
The seminar, made possible by a generous grant from the Claretian Publications, was attended by nearly 150 editors and writers for religious publications throughout America and Canada. It was sponsored by the American Jewish Press Association, the Associated Church Press, the Catholic Press Association and the Evangelical Press Association.
Ambassador Young, who had intended to give a short 10-minute address and leave, remained for nearly an hour for an impromptu press interview, fielding a variety of questions covering the United States' posture on various issues. He denied advocating support for the Rhodesian terrorists, whom he called "freedom fighters."
"It must be remembered," he said, "that freedom fighters are never popular during the conflict. And it should also be remembered that houses of parliament throughout the world are filled with former freedom fighters who have gained respectability." He said that the role of the United States is to seek peace in all countries, to end the fighting and to provide a climate for free and fair elections.
Other notables who addressed the editors and answered questions in a free exchange were the United Nations Secretary-General, Kurt Waldheim; the Honorable Poal Hartling, UN High Commissioner for Refugees; Robert Muller, Director and Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Council; the Honorable Jean Young, Chairman of the U.S. National Commission on the International Year of the Child; Brian E. Urquhart, Under-SecretaryGeneral for Special Political Affairs; and the highest ranking woman in the UN, Margaret Joan Anstee, Assistant Administrator of the UN Development Program.
Mr. Muller, who has spent three decades with the UN, said he was glad whenever problems or conflicts are brought to the UN. "The more the tensions are brought to the United Nations," he said, "the less there is chance for armed conflict. " He pointed to an effort which had succeeded because all countries had joined in a common purpose: the eradication of small pox from the world. What is the United Nations? he asked. "It is the groping of the human species for an understanding of its place on this planet."
Much has been done, he added, in meeting physical needs; much has been done for mental fulfillment; but little has been done in the spiritual dimension. It is here that the member nations must concur in advancing the spiritual health of mankind.
One diversity was noted during the final panel discussion which was led by an ecumenical panel chaired by Edna McCallion, Director for UN Affairs of the Church Women United. It is a diversity which makes spiritual unity somewhat difficult. Since the UN is made up of governments, which are basically political and therefore non-religious, finding a common spiritual dimension is quite difficult. This is compounded by the fact that the UN is a mixture of Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Moslem, Shinto, Taoist and Confucian countries. The common denominator at the present is the respect each delegation assumes for the spiritual direction of its neighbors.
General Secretary Waldheim, in his address, pointed out yet another problem. To Europeans and Americans, Israel is in the Middle East; to a native of Delhi, Israel is in Western Asia. Perspective, he said, needed to be broadened greatly. Solutions can be found, he added, yet "... global problems can only be solved by keeping both the old order and the emerging order in the broad perspective." Many problems remain, he concluded, but the UN is the only place where all of the world's nations get together and talk.
Among the many topics under discussion during the seminar were the refugee problem, human rights, peace, the developing nations, education, discrimination, interdependence and media relations and reporting.
Organizing and arranging the two-day seminar was the United Nations Association of the United States of America. Included in the activities was a reception at the United States Mission to the United Nations.
Of the 150 editors present, only one was the editor of an Episcopal publication, the Venerable Erwin M. Soukup, editor of the Diocese of Chicago's Advance.
Future seminars for people in the religious media are being planned, according to William C. Powell, Director of the Public Information Service of the United Nations Association.