A Citizen of the World

We offer our readers an interview with Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin, at the beginning of his mandate as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations Offices in Geneva

EDITED BY RICCARDO PIOL

When, just barely twenty years old, he left his island home of Ireland to go to Rome, he did not imagine what life had in store for him. He was called to serve the Church, to know and encounter the most difficult and dramatic realities, the poorest countries on the planet. After working at the Pontifical Council for the Family, in 1984 he went to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, where he was Secretary for seven years. Since then he has spent his time calling to the attention of the greats of the earth the dramas lived by entire generations, peoples, and countries that he visits and encounters. And today, at the age of 56, he has been called to a new and important post which has taken him from Rome to Geneva, as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Offices of the United Nations. To those who ask him how he is doing in his new job, he answers with simplicity, “I am doing today what was being done in my family in Dublin. My mother taught me to accept the person totally, just as he is. When I was fifteen years old, I would go visit prisons in Ireland. Then, as a priest, the Bishop of Dublin confirmed me in my urge to work with people who were less fortunate than I and led me to see in them a brother and a sister rather than a case or a client. Since then I have always tried to maintain the same sensitivity to others’ problems, to see how the structures of society can be changed to respond better to need, but above all I have understood that the essential thing is to accept and embrace the person for what he is, with all his difficulties and weaknesses. Because recognizing a person as your brother is the most important aid you can give.”

A new adventure is beginning in Geneva. In what spirit are you approaching it?
After twenty-six years of working in Rome, Geneva is a kind of adventure. I am throwing myself into new things, into something interesting. This new post is a great challenge for me: to represent, as Bishop, the Holy See and all that culture of values, traditions, and service which the Catholic Church is in the world, to a series of great international agencies.

This is a big responsibility, especially during times like these.
All you have to do is look, for instance, at the new legislation on euthanasia in the Netherlands to understand what problems will affect the lives of everyone in the future. Today a great debate is going on concerning the relationship between a world dominated by economic principles, by a globalization centered on these principles, and other values like solidarity, protection of the weakest members of society, the defense of life. We have to look for a way to reaffirm and reinforce the principle that every human life in every moment, every period of its existence–above all when the person is weakest–has the right to be protected; there is an obligation to protect it. Welcoming this life and reaffirming its value: this is for me a great challenge. There are still many countries in the world where the rights of the person are not respected: we hear stories of violence, new forms of slavery that we thought belonged to the past, ugly traffic in women and children which has become big business, persons who are really treated like slaves of modern life.

These are problems that you have already studied deeply and denounced during your years at Justice and Peace.
Yes, this is true. And it is striking to me to see resurfacing here, on an international level, problems and questions which we have already raised in the past in the Council for Justice and Peace. For example, here in Geneva there is great interest in September’s conference on racism. But more than twelve years ago, we published a document on racism [The Church in the Face of Racism: Towards a More Fraternal Society, 1988]–and not only racism as a problem in the South Africa of that time. We already indicated then some new forms of racism and intolerance which were emerging, especially in developed countries, because of the barriers set up by a consumer mentality, a mentality that considers only one’s own needs or is animated by fear. The same thing happened on the question of light firearms; more than six years ago we published a document on the weapons trade [The International Weapons Trade: A Reflection on Ethics, 1994] and made numerous appeals on this subject…

… saying things that no one dared to say.
I remember a speech on military spending at a meeting on the new projects for the relief of poverty. A minister of a European country thanked me afterwards, saying, “I agree fully with what you say. But, as a minister, I cannot say certain things because I have to protect the interests of our military industries.” This role of attention to suffering and this ability to say things freely and clearly is typical of the Holy See and is the service we can offer to today’s world.

So, in the international sphere, is the Holy See like a prophetic voice talking about the world’s great problems?
The Holy See has an intelligence which comes from its presence on a world-wide scale. The Council for Justice and Peace is a locus of encounter with what the local churches are doing, what the local churches are suffering. The Catholic Church is a natural actor on the global stage because she is present in every part of the world. She is by definition the sign of the Unity of mankind in Christ and it is her duty to promote unity, respect for the dignity of every person, and the unity of the human family. Christ became man, and is the great sign of unity and of the need for redemption that applies to everyone.

The Pope is a moving example of this mission for the world. You have worked closely with him. Of this experience, what has stayed with you?
The Pope is always very affectionate toward those who work with him. I am struck by the gratitude he shows for the services each one offers and the great attention he pays to our work. When I was at Justice and Peace, he himself raised questions and assigned tasks and jobs after reflecting on particular situations brought to his attention by the bishops and even by political figures. The by-now famous document on international debt [Serving the Human Community: An Ethical Approach to International Debt, 1986], for example, was published at his request when the bishops of Latin America came to talk to him about a problem that at the time was new and seemed a merely technical one. But there are also other circumstances like this one: during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for instance, we organized an encounter of prayer for peace, to which the Pope invited all the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe, saying that when political Europe is not able to provide an answer we, as the European Churches, have the duty to draw attention to the dramatic nature of war. In recent years, the Pope has made numerous appeals for peace. More than any other person, he has always called attention also to the most profound questions concerning the future of man, to the very identity of this man created in the image of God, to the culture of death, and to the defence of human life–all timely topics.

These are topics which the Pope has touched on more than once also during the Jubilee.
Since Vatican Council II, there has not been an ecclesial event which affected the Church in all her components like the Jubilee, a moment of great renewal. I, who have travelled a great deal in recent years, have seen this Jubilee symbol everywhere, from the biggest cathedrals to the smallest chapels in the areas of mission, signifying an event of renewal in the entire Church. The other thing, too, to which the Pope has given great impetus in these years, is the presence of the laity and the movements in the Church. The Pope looks to laypeople in a very special way: he invites them to be present in society and the Church, a Church that is much livelier and with new forms of spirituality also for laypeople.

When did you encounter Communion and Liberation?
In my first years with the Council for the Family, I met some young people from the Movement, which was then growing, and I saw their commitment, creativity, and the newness of a presence. Then, as the years passed, I saw that this enthusiasm, this charism gave rise to great things: I participated in the Meeting in Rimini, a great fair of faith and youth; and I have seen the work done by AVSI, discreet but very demanding and with a high level of professionalism, a concrete expression of that charity which distinguishes the life of the Church and our aid works from any other type of presence.

What struck you most as you met the presence of Catholics in the world’s poorest countries?
I met many people, sometimes among the most humble, who have known how to devote themselves completely to bearing a message of love and support and good will to change things. I am thinking of the many volunteers there are in the world, of the religious who stay in war zones even when the TV journalists and other humanitarian organizations are long gone, of those who dedicate themselves completely to this service without asking for anything in return. These are things which truly come from faith. I hope that a stronger tie can be established in Christians between faith and charity. I hope that the people who profess faith in Christ may be on the front line in works of charity, that they may translate into charity this vision of man that comes from faith. And I also hope that it may be possible to bring back to the root of faith many of those Christians for whom the only tie they have with the Church is this “doing good,” but perhaps have lost that deeper faith which is necessary to make this service of charity more effective in today’s world. If this tie between faith and charity comes about, I believe it will bring much greater hope also to the people with other experiences, other inspirations, who are searching for a meaning, for a sense of hope for the world.

Thus, would you say that Christians have a big responsibility?
They have the responsibility to be authentic in their testimony of faith and to offer a service which is rooted in faith, because only in this way is it possible to offer an overall vision of the nature of the human person and the human family.