Ambassador Glendon says Human Rights movement must Protect Motherhood and Family

The Ambassador said that Catholic tradition connects human rights with natural law and not simply social contract

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Mary Ann Glendon, said the international human rights movement needs to return to some of its original principles -- including protection of the family.

In a front-page interview March 7 with the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, Glendon said she was helping to organize a series of four one-day conferences on human rights over the next nine months.

Dec. 10 marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Glendon, who took up her post as ambassador in late February, said the Catholic Church had a strong voice in the formulation of the 1948 declaration.

But the wide agreement on basic values at that time -- including the value of maternity and the family -- has diminished in recent years, she said.

"The moment has come in which it is important to remember commitments that were undertaken by all," Glendon said. In particular, she said, the role played by traditional Catholic thought in the formulation of human rights must be reconfirmed.

It's a role that some would prefer to forget, because Catholic tradition connects human rights with natural law, Glendon said. In modern times, she said, there are many forces that would rather reduce these rights to principles determined on a contractual basis, she said.

She said the first conference would address the role of Latin American diplomats, and in a sense Catholic culture, in the formulation of the human rights declaration.

Subsequent conferences will focus on the universality of human rights, the question of genocide, and the relationship between the church's social teaching and human rights.

In the interview, Glendon also addressed what she said were new challenges to women's rights around the world.

"One is certainly the increase in poverty, to the point where one can speak of a 'feminization' of poverty," she said.

A related issue is human trafficking as it affects women, notably in sexual exploitation or forced labor, she said.

The selective abortion of females is becoming an increasing problem, with a serious risk of demographic imbalances, she said.

On the other hand, the longevity of women raises problems related to their care. Elderly women are often seen as a burden on families, with growing pressure for euthanasia, she said.

The interview was published on the eve of International Women's Day.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops