Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo said the Church will continue to collaborate with the United Nations on any joint project that "does not go against the doctrine of the Church".

The Vatican academy is sponsoring a one-day symposium on July 22 with the United Nations' global initiative, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, headed by US economist Jeffrey Sachs.

The academy is also sponsoring a related day-long workshop on July 21, bringing together 60 mayors and representatives of major cities around the world to take steps against modern-day forms of slavery in their communities.

In April, the international coalition Voice of the Family voiced "grave" concern at Vatican collaboration with the UN at a climate change summit.

It was claimed that environmental issues at the UN become an umbrella to cover a wide spectrum of attacks on human life and the family.

Opposition was expressed at the Vatican cooperating with organisations and individuals who promote population control in ways that clearly violate Church teaching.

At the press conference, Bishop Sanchez was asked if the Vatican was letting itself become a platform for the United Nations to promote its own agenda.

Bishop Sanchez said the idea for and organisation of the July 22 meeting came from the pontifical academy with added input from the UN development network.

"The United Nations is not the devil. Rather, quite the opposite," he said.

Pope Paul VI, who was the first pope to visit the United Nations, told the general assembly in 1965 that the organisation represented the mandatory path of modern civilization and world peace, the bishop said.

Successive popes showed the same kind of support with their own visits to the UN, too, he added.

"To see the devil in the United Nations, which some on the right tend to do, is not the position of the Holy See," he said.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Tea Party Tribune

Pro-life sources had expressed concern that the Vatican partnered with United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and US economist Jeffrey Sachs at an April 28 summit in Rome.

The summit was hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and brought together leaders in religion, business, science and politics.

Both Sachs and Ban spoke at the meeting, with Ban and Pope Francis speaking privately before it began.

Pro-life sources challenged the head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Archbishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, citing positions taken by the UN and Sachs on abortion and population control.

Archbishop Sorondo replied in part that he had just returned from an Argentine conference on combating new forms of slavery, such as forced labour, prostitution, and human and organ trafficking.

"Unfortunately, there is not only the drama of abortion, but there are also all these other dramas, in which you should also be interested, because they are closely related," the archbishop replied to an Italian pro-life critic.

"The climate crisis leads to poverty and poverty leads to new forms of slavery and forced migration, and drugs, and all this can also lead to abortion," Archbishop Sorondo stated.

Voice of the Family expressed "grave concern" over Sachs's and Ban's participation specifically, and more broadly, of collaboration with the UN.

"Unfortunately, pro-life and pro-family advocates who lobby at the UN have witnessed the environmental issues become an umbrella to cover a wide spectrum of attacks on human life and the family," the coalition stated.

Archbishop Sorondo replied: "Instead of attacking us, why not enter into dialogue with these 'demons' to maybe make the formulation [of UN sustainable development goals] better, like we did on the issues of social inclusion and new forms of slavery?"

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Climate Stew