son and of society.
Alfonso Cardinal López Trujillo
Most Rev. Francisco Gil Hellín
1.1. A Meeting Point
1. We, a group of experts and other persons committed to the cause of the family and life,1 have met at the invitation of the Pontifical Council for the Family, to reflect for three days (December 14-16, 1998) on the theme: "Human Rights and the Rights of the Family". We join with great hope in the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, promulgated by the United Nations on December 10, 1948.2
2. With the present document (that is limited to some considerations of particular importance and which we are pleased to offer as the basis for further, deeper considerations), we wish to recognize the Declaration's significance and force, and go forth in the perspective both of its true universality and its complete application. We recognize the Declaration's value and on-going capacity to inspire because we share elements of the one same truth. Sharing the truth is a necessary condition for human coexistence. We certainly do not ignore the reservations to which the Declaration may have given rise: it could favor individualism and subjectivism. In this sense, various critiques have been made of it. However, it is good to stress the great convergence between this Declaration and Christian anthropology and ethics,3 despite the fact that the document makes no reference to God. There is also a conceptual proximity regarding the points admitted as being natural in that they are based on the common conscience of humanity. For this reason, it is certainly not a question of rights created by the Declaration but rather of rights which it recognizes and codifies. "The Universal Declaration is very clear: it recognizes the rights it proclaims, it does not grant them".4 Moreover, the Declaration recognizes "the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all the members of the human family",5 and this constitutes a "meeting point" for joint reflection and action.
3. Out of the sufferings of war, with the deep wounds and lacerations it inflicted, and the grave attacks on the dignity of persons and peoples, humanity united to affirm "the value of the human person",6 together with the due respect and protection. From all places and cultures, the nations of the world proclaimed universal truths, universal rights and universal values. Although the nations of the world are different, their delegates listened to the prompting of the spirit, the call of reason, the lessons of history, and the inclinations of the heart. Representing the peoples of the world,7 the nations agreed to forego ideologies and go beyond utilitarianism in order to recognize the ends grounded in the nature of each and every person. This brings in universal dynamics so that around the truth about man, many more nations than the original signers could adhere to the Declaration and, hopefully in the near future, all the nations of the world will do so.
4. We are aware that the "cold war" impeded application of the Declaration, but we are also aware of the great possibilities that the present era can derive from the so-called "globalization". This means a globalization that is not limited to purely economic aspects but involves other realities and dimensions that have to converge in recognition of the dignity of the human person and pass through a whole body of ethical values that have a binding force. This will all become a reality if we discover the way to encourage the recognition and application of human rights.
5. In his message of November 30, 1998, John Paul II paid explicit homage to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights when he described it as "one of the most valuable and significant documents in the history of law".8 The rights articulated in the Declaration constitute an integrated whole with the affirmation of the dignity of every person as its common basis. The curtailment of any right violates a person's humanity. John Paul II has also stated—and this is a warning of great importance—that the selective