COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION

OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES

UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THE CONVENTION

Fifteenth periodic reports of States parties due in 1998

Addendum

Holy See *

[20 August 1999]

______________

* This document contains the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth periodic reports of the Holy See, due on 31 May 1994, 1996 and 1999, respectively (consolidated document). For the eleventh and twelfth periodic reports of the Holy See (consolidated document) and the summary records of the meetings at which the Committee considered those reports, see documents CERD/C/226/Add.6 and CERD/C/SR.991-992.

The annexes submitted by the Holy See may be consulted in the Secretariat's files.

GE.00-42493

CONTENTS

	Paragraphs	Pages
Introduction	1 – 2	3
Part One
General
I. NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE HOLY SEE IN INTERNATIONAL LAW	3 – 4	3
II. STATISTICS RELATING TO ECCLESIASTICAL TERRITORY, POPULATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS	5	4
Part Two
Information relating to articles 2 to 7 of the Convention
I. GENERAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK PROHIBITING AND ELIMINATING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION	6 – 15	22
A. General remarks	7 – 10	23
B. Doctrine underlying canonical law	11 - 15	23
II. IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLES 2,3,5 AND 7	16 - 91	23
Article 2	16 - 17	23
Information on legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures	16 - 17	23
Article 3	18 - 33	24
Condemnation of racial segregation	18 - 30	24
Diplomatic relations with South Africa	31 - 33	26
Article 5	34 - 44	27
Equal treatment before the courts	34 - 36	27
Participation of the faithful in the apostolic mission and responsibilities of the Church	37 - 44	27
Article 7	45 - 91	28
Education and teaching	45 - 87	28
Information	88 - 91	55
III. INITIATIVES TAKEN BY THE HOLY SEE IN ETHNIC CONFLICTS	92 - 107	60
A. The Balkans	92 - 98	60
B. Rwanda	99 - 107	62

INTRODUCTION

1. In this document, the Holy See submits its fifteenth report on the implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in accordance with article 9, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The consolidated document also includes the thirteenth and fourteenth reports, due in 1994 and 1996. The last report of the Holy See (CERD/C/226/Add.6) was considered by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 5 August 1993 (CERD/C/SR.991 and 992).

2. In the preparation of the report account was taken, as far as possible, of the guidelines regarding the form and contents of reports (CERD/C/70/Rev.3) as well as of the recommendations and comments made by members of the Committee during the consideration of the previous report and the conclusions adopted by the Committee on 17 August 1993 (see document A/48/18, paragraphs 276-305). Several documents are attached to this report with a view to supplementing the information it contains; these documents may be consulted in the Secretariat's files.

PART ONE

General

I. NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE HOLY SEE IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

3. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 21 December 1965 was signed by the Holy See on 21 November 1966 and ratified on 1 May 1969. No declaration or reservation was made by the Holy See at the time of ratification. The Holy See has not declared that it recognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and consider individual communications in accordance with article 14, paragraph 1, of the Convention.

4. The Holy See has undertaken, under article 9, paragraph 1, to submit a report on the measures taken to give effect to the Convention. In that connection, the Holy See wishes to remind the Committee of the following points concerning its specific nature as a subject of international law:

(a) In international law, the Holy See is a sovereign subject having an original, non-derived legal personality independent of any authority or jurisdiction.

(b) In the internal law of the Catholic Church, the Holy See is defined as the Government of the universal Church composed of the Sovereign Pontiff and of the institutions which proceed from him (Code of Canon Law, can. 361).

(c) The Holy See is also the sovereign of the State of Vatican City. That State has all the characteristics of a State; it does not contain a civil society but a working community placed temporarily in the service of the Holy See.

(d) Historically, the international personality of the Holy See has never been confused with that of the territories over which it has exercised State sovereignty, e.g. the Patrimony of St. Peter (or Church States) from 754 to 1870 and Vatican City since 1929.

(e) The international personality of the Holy See takes precedence over any territorial personality, as is borne out, for example, by the years 1870-1929 which lay between the loss of the traditional Church States and the establishment of the State of Vatican City. During those sixty years the Holy See continued to act as a subject of international law by concluding concordats and international treaties with a great number of States, participating in international conferences, conducting mediation and arbitration missions, and maintaining both active and passive diplomatic relations.

(f) As stated in article 24, paragraph 2 of the Lateran Treaty of 1929, the Holy See does not desire to participate in "temporal contests between States", while declaring itself ready make its contribution when the parties to a dispute "unanimously appeal for its mission of peace, while reserving the right to exercise its moral and spiritual authority in each case".

(g) The Holy See has the status of observer to the United Nations and several specialized agencies. It has been a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency since 1956.

(h) The Holy See signs and ratifies international treaties in order to manifest the support of its moral authority and thereby to encourage States to adhere to the treaty. For example, in acceding to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1979, it clearly stated that "by this act, dictated by the conviction that the objectives of disarmament and international détente w…..which inspire this treaty correspond to its own mission of peace, the Holy See wishes to give its support and its moral encouragement to the provisions of the treaty".

( i ) The Holy See, as the supreme organ of the Catholic Church, disseminates teachings which are not addressed to Catholic believers alone but also concern human, personal, social and international ethics. In the tradition of the Catholic Church, ethical principles are founded upon reason and address themselves to the whole of mankind.

(j) As the development of human rights demonstrates, international life cannot dispense with common moral values of an objective nature. The Holy See, for its part, is doing all it can towards the advancement of moral principles and of the conditions for ensuring peace, justice and social progress in a context of ever more effective respect of human rights.

(k) So far as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is concerned, the Holy See takes special pleasure in reiterating its support of the Convention as the Catholic Church considers it its duty to preach the equal dignity of all human beings, created by God in His image.

II.STATISTICS RELATING TO ECCLESIASTICAL TERRITORY, POPULATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS

5. Data showing the "population" and structure of the Roman Catholic Church by the world's principal regions and by country, drawn from the statistical reference work entitled Annuario statistico della Chiesa 1995, are reproduced below.

STATISTICS ON CHURCH POPULATION AND STRUCTURE

(As at 31st December 1995)

AFRICA

Country	Area in sq. km	Total population (thousands)	Catholics (thousands)	Administrative divisions of the Catholic church	Pastoral centres
Parishes or equivalent	Missions with a resident priest	Missions without a resident priest	Other pastoral centres	Total
Algeria	2 381 741	28 550	3	4	40	--	--	11	51
Angola	1 246 700	11 070	6 523	15	255	37	2 625	15	2 932
Benin	112 622	5 560	1 198	9	141	27	1 541	18	1 727
Botswana	581 730	1 460	55	1	26	--	97	--	123
Burkina Faso	274 200	10 200	1 109	9	108	--	1 822	2	1 732
Burundi	27 834	5 980	3 594	7	118	--	1 291	--	1 409
Cameroon	475 442	13 280	3 431	22	554	--	3 623	36	4 213
Cape Verde	4 033	405	390	1	31	--	18	--	49
Central African Republic	622 984	3 310	622	7	112	--	1 587	4	1 703
Chad	1 284 000	6 360	433	5	98	16	115	1	230
Comoros	2 235	650	5	1	3	3	1	--	7
Congo	342 000	2 590	1 259	6	102	88	45	55	290
Côte d'Ivoire	322 463	14 230	1 989	14	214	--	2 230	7	2 451
Djibouti	23 200	580	8	1	5	3	3	--	11
Egypt	1 001 419	59 230	213	13	221	--	--	64	285
Eritrea	134 700	3 582	126	3	94	--	--	50	144
Ethiopia	1 087 200	53 098	346	8	171	--	89	17	277
Gabon	267 667	1 320	655	4	65	--	21	--	86
Gambia	11 295	1 120	27	1	14	--	37	2	53
Ghana	238 537	17 450	2 109	15	244	--	2 833	22	3 099
Guinea	245 857	6 700	129	3	35	--	28	33	96
Guinea-Bissau	36 125	1 070	126	1	28	--	--	--	28
Guinea, Equatorial	28 051	400	364	3	48	--	409	--	457
Kenya	580 367	30 520	6 367	22	548	--	5 227	47	5 822
Lesotho	30 355	2 050	726	4	76	--	360	--	436
Liberia	111 369	2 760	99	3	50	--	120	4	174
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	1 759 540	5 410	40	4	2	--	28	--	30
Madagascar	587 041	14 760	3 134	18	279	16	6 599	12	6 906
Malawi	118 484	9 790	2 350	7	145	--	994	5	1 144
Mali	1 240 192	10 790	110	6	39	--	309	--	348
Mauritania	1 025 520	2 280	4	1	6	--	--	1	7
Mauritius	1 865	1 090	285	1	49	--	--	--	49
Morocco	446 550	27 110	24	2	46	--	3	--	49
Mozambique	801 590	17 420	2 767	12	279	--	3 291	5	3 575
Namibia	824 292	1 540	269	3	67	--	93	34	194
Niger	1 267 000	9 150	19	1	21	--	--	--	21
Nigeria	923 768	111 720	12 412	44	1 298	94	8 562	109	10 063
Réunion	2 510	650	574	1	76	--	60	--	136
Rwanda	26 338	7 950	3 642	9	127	--	236	123	486
Sahara, Western	266 000	350	--	1	1	--	--	--	1
Saint Helena	314	7	--	1	1	--	--	2	3
Sao Tomé and Principe	964	121	101	1	12	--	--	1	13
Senegal	196 722	8 350	396	6	89	242	37	--	368
Seychelles	358	77	69	1	17	--	--	--	17
Sierra Leone	71 740	4 510	135	3	37	15	901	6	959
Somalia	637 657	9 250	--	1	1	--	--	--	1
South Africa	1 221 037	41 240	3 030	27	731	48	2 400	49	3 228
Sudan	2 505 813	28 100	2 279	9	103	--	607	47	757
Swaziland	17 364	910	48	1	14	--	150	--	164
Tanzania, United Republic of	945 087	30 340	7 355	29	771	5	5 098	136	6 010
Togo	56 785	4 410	956	7	111	--	1 313	2	1 426
Tunisia	163 610	8 900	20	1	14	--	--	--	14
Uganda	235 880	21 300	9 143	20	367	--	3 283	4	3 654
Zaire	2 345 409	43 900	22 310	47	1 191	56	8 909	37	10 193
Zambia	752 614	9 370	2 677	9	257	13	2 286	--	2 556
Zimbabwe	390 580	11 530	1 022	7	140	31	2 467	--	2 638
TOTAL AFRICA	30 306 780	725 850	107 077	462	9 692	694	71 548	961	82 895

STATISTICS ON CHURCH POPULATION AND STRUCTURE

(As at 31st December 1995)

NORTH AMERICA

Country	Area in sq. km	Total population (thousands)	Catholics (thousands)	Administrative divisions of the Catholic church	Pastoral centres
Parishes or equivalent	Missions with a resident priest	Missions without a resident priest	Other pastoral centres	Total
Bermuda	53	60	10	1	6	--	--	--	6
Canada	9 976 139	29 610	12 551	74	5 167	20	73	754	6 014
Greenland	2 175 600	56	--	--	1	--	--	--	1
S. Pierre and Miquelon	242	6	6	1	3	--	--	6	9
United States	9 372 614	263 030	57 047	191	19 587	--	--	1 802	21 389
TOTAL NORTH AMERICA	21 524 648	292 762	69 614	267	24 764	20	73	2 562	27 419

STATISTICS ON CHURCH POPULATION AND STRUCTURE

(As at 31st December 1995)

CENTRAL AMERICA/MAINLAND

Country	Area in sq. km	Total population (thousands)	Catholics (thousands)	Administrative divisions of the Catholic church	Pastoral centres
Parishes or equivalent	Missions with a resident priest	Missions without a resident priest	Other pastoral centres	Total
Belize	22 965	211	123	1	13	--	117	--	130
Costa Rica	51 100	3 330	3 009	6	249	--	--	537	786
El Salvador	21 041	5 770	5 399	9	292	--	--	54	346
Guatemala	108 889	10 620	9 045	15	407	--	1 126	1 072	2 605
Honduras	112 088	5 950	5 517	7	144	--	5	732	881
Mexico	1 958 201	90 490	86 305	82	5 260	--	--	4 419	9 679
Nicaragua	130 000	4 540	4 047	8	205	--	685	69	959
Panama	77 082	2 630	2 276	8	172	9	108	96	385
TOTAL CENTR. AMERICA/ MAINLAND	2 481 366	123 541	115 721	136	6 742	9	2 041	6 979	15 771

STATISTICS ON CHURCH POPULATION AND STRUCTURE

(As at 31st December 1995)

CENTRAL AMERICA/ANTILLES

Country	Area in sq. km	Total population (thousands)	Catholics (thousands)	Administrative divisions of the Catholic church	Pastoral centres
Parishes or equivalent	Missions with a resident priest	Missions without a resident priest	Other pastoral centres	Total
Anguilla	96	7	--	--	1	--	--	--	1
Antigua and Barbuda	442	64	8	1	2	--	1	--	3
Aruba	193	70	56	--	8	--	--	5	13
Bahamas	13 878	280	47	1	29	--	41	22	92
Barbados	430	260	10	1	6	--	--	--	6
Cayman Islands	259	29	4	--	1	--	--	--	1
Cuba	110 861	11 040	4 701	10	252	--	--	418	670
Dominica	751	72	57	1	17	--	39	--	56
Dominican Republic	48 734	7 910	7 162	11	320	--	--	1 257	1 577
Grenada	344	91	54	1	20	--	35	--	55
Guadeloupe	1 705	408	391	1	43	--	60	--	103
Haiti	27 750	7 180	6 255	9	237	--	--	941	1 178
Jamaica	10 990	2 530	107	3	78	--	--	1	79
Martinique	1 102	397	351	1	47	--	--	2	49
Montserrat	98	12	1	--	1	--	--	--	1
Netherlands Antilles	800	200	152	1	29	--	--	18	47
Puerto Rico	8 897	3 670	3 034	5	353	--	--	536	889
Saint Kitts and Nevis	261	46	5	--	4	--	1	--	5
Saint Lucia	622	140	109	1	23	--	33	--	56
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	388	110	10	1	6	--	12	--	18
Trinidad and Tobago	5 130	1 250	395	1	62	--	--	--	62
Turks and Caicos Islands	430	11	1	1	2	--	--	--	2
Virgin Islands (G.B.)	153	11	1	--	2	--	1	--	3
Virgin Islands (USA)	342	102	30	1	8	--	--	2	10
TOTAL CENTR. AMERICA/ ANTILLES	234 656	35 890	22 941	51	1 551	--	223	3 202	4 976

STATISTICS ON CHURCH POPULATION AND STRUCTURE

(As at 31st December 1995)

SOUTH AMERICA

Country	Area in sq. km	Total population (thousands)	Catholics (thousands)	Administrative divisions of the Catholic church	Pastoral centres
Parishes or equivalent	Missions with a resident priest	Missions without a resident priest	Other pastoral centres	Total
Argentina	2 766 889	34 770	31 546	68	2 480	--	--	6 514	8 994
Bolivia	1 098 581	7 410	6 636	18	520	--	--	259	779
Brazil	8 511 965	155 820	134 818	256	7 997	--	--	26 997	34 994
Chile	756 945	14 200	11 330	27	892	--	26	3 323	4 241
Colombia	1 138 914	35 100	32 260	69	2 955	3	476	814	4 248
Ecuador	283 561	11 460	10 729	24	1 123	--	1 280	1 590	3 993
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	12 173	4	1	1	1	--	1	--	2
French Guiana	98 000	150	120	1	26	--	--	--	26
Guyana	214 969	830	88	1	30	--	57	--	87
Paraguay	406 752	4 830	4 531	14	293	5	40	1 155	1 493
Peru	1 285 216	23 530	21 545	45	1 388	3	507	2 495	4 393
Suriname	163 265	420	91	1	30	--	116	--	146
Uruguay	177 414	3 190	2 473	10	229	--	--	557	786
Venezuela	912 050	21 640	19 922	35	1 101	--	210	1 499	2 810
TOTAL SOUTH AMERICA	17 818 694	313 354	276 090	570	19 065	11	2 713	45 203	66 992
TOTAL AMERICA	42 059 364	765 547	484 366	1 024	52 122	40	5 050	57 946	115 158

STATISTICS ON CHURCH POPULATION AND STRUCTURE

(As at 31st December 1995)

ASIA/MIDDLE EAST

Country	Area in sq. km	Total population (thousands)	Catholics (thousands)	Administrative divisions of the Catholic church	Pastoral centres
Parishes or equivalent	Missions with a resident priest	Missions without a resident priest	Other pastoral centres	Total
Afghanistan	652 090	20 140	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Cyprus	9 251	740	11	1	13	--	--	1	14
Iran (Islamic Rep. of)	1 648 000	67 280	13	6	18	--	--	10	28
Iraq	438 317	20 450	621	17	92	--	--	7	99
Israel	20 770	5 540	90	9	74	--	--	5	79
Jordan	97 740	5 440	66	1	62	--	--	1	63
Lebanon	10 400	3 010	2 026	24	1 032	--	--	46	1 078
Syrian Arab Republic	185 180	14 190	295	18	200	--	--	34	234
Turkey	780 576	61 640	30	7	50	--	--	5	55
TOTAL ASIA/MIDDLE-EAST	3 842 324	198 430	3 152	83	1 541	--	--	109	1 650

STATISTICS ON CHURCH POPULATION AND STRUCTURE

(As at 31st December 1995)

ASIA SOUTH EAST, FAR EAST

	Country	Area in sq. km	Total population (thousands)	Catholics (thousands)	Administrative divisions of the Catholic church	Pastoral centres
	Parishes or equivalent	Missions with a resident priest	Missions without a resident priest	Other pastoral centres	Total
Armenia	29 800	3 760	141	1	18	--	--	--	18
Azerbaijan	86 600	750	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Bahrain	678	590	30	--	1	--	1	--	2
Bangladesh	143 998	120 430	231	6	73	--	349	30	452
Bhutan	47 000	1 640	1	--	1	--	--	--	1
Brunei Darussalam	5 765	280	8	--	3	--	--	--	3
Cambodia	181 035	9 840	20	3	--	--	35	--	35
China, Mainland	9 560 175	1 199 074	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
China, Taiwan	35 961	22 426	300	8	446	--	304	17	767
Georgia	69 700	5 460	100	1	25	--	--	--	25
Hong Kong	1 045	6 190	237	1	62	--	--	35	97
India	3 287 590	935 740	16 016	133	7 247	128	16 443	1 503	25 321
Indonesia	1 904 569	193 750	5 380	35	991	24	7 218	85	8 318
Japan	377 801	125 200	447	17	854	--	41	48	943
Kazakhstan	2 717 300	16 590	300	1	--	--	--	--	--
Korea, Dem. People's Rep. of	120 538	23 920	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Korea, Republic of	99 016	44 850	3 402	15	948	--	892	237	2 077
Kuwait	17 818	1 690	155	2	5	--	--	--	5
Kyrgyzstan	198 500	4 670	26	--	--	--	--	--	--
Lao Peoples Dem. Rep.	236 800	4 880	36	4	31	--	84	--	115
Macau	16	420	22	1	9	--	--	4	13
Malaysia	329 749	20 140	637	8	148	--	973	--	1 121
Maldives	298	250	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Mongolia	1 565 000	2 410	1	1	--	--	--	--	--
Myanmar	676 552	46 530	538	12	252	--	246	2	500
Nepal	140 797	21 920	5	1	20	--	36	--	56
Oman	212 457	2 160	50	--	4	--	18	--	22
Pakistan	796 095	129 810	1 009	6	93	--	517	51	661
Philippines	300 000	70 270	58 735	80	2 525	--	1 489	4 742	8 756
Qatar	11 000	550	45	--	1	--	6	--	7
Russian Federation (in Asia)	12 650 900	18 050	1 000	2	152	--	--	52	204
Saudi Arabia	2 149 690	17 880	645	--	5	--	15	--	20
Singapore	618	2 990	132	1	30	--	--	--	30
Sri Lanka	65 610	18 350	1 210	11	373	--	755	89	1 217
Tajikistan	143 100	5 840	32	--	--	--	--	--	--
Thailand	513 115	59 400	247	10	312	25	433	15	785
Timor, East	14 874	860	732	2	30	--	--	89	119
Turkmenistan	488 100	4 100	22	--	--	--	--	--	--
United Arab Emirates	83 600	2 310	122	1	6	--	8	--	14
Uzbekistan	447 000	22 840	120	--	--	--	--	1	1
VietNam	329 556	74 540	5 921	25	2 122	--	1 954	433	4 509
Yemen	527 968	14 500	3	--	4	--	2	--	6
TOTAL ASIA SUD‑E, FAR E	40 567 784	3 257 850	98 058	388	16 791	177	31 819	7 433	56 220
TOTAL ASIA	44 410 108	3 456 280	101 210	471	18 332	177	31 819	7 542	57 870

STATISTICS ON CHURCH POPULATION AND STRUCTURE

(As at 31st December 1995)

EUROPE

Country	Area in sq. km	Total population (thousands)	Catholics (thousands)	Administrative divisions of the Catholic church	Pastoral centres
Parishes or equivalent	Missions with a resident priest	Missions without a resident priest	Other pastoral centres	Other
Albania	28 748	3 440	541	7	99	--	--	--	99
Andorra	453	70	59	--	7	--	--	--	7
Austria	83 853	8 530	6 677	12	3 037	--	--	1 244	4 281
Belarus	207 600	10 140	1 245	3	338	--	--	--	338
Belgium	30 514	10 110	8 462	9	3 962	--	--	528	4 490
Bosnia and Herzegovina	51 087	4 480	769	3	284	--	--	10	294
Bulgaria	110 912	8 400	91	3	45	--	--	1	46
Croatia	62 206	4 490	3 726	11	1 535	--	--	9	1 544
Czech Republic	78 426	10 330	7 322	9	3 119	--	--	25	3 144
Denmark	43 077	5 230	32	1	50	--	--	--	50
Estonia	45 215	1 530	4	1	5	--	--	--	5
Faeroe Islands	1 399	47	--	--	1	--	--	--	1
Finland	338 127	5 110	6	1	7	--	--	5	12
France	551 500	58 150	47 773	98	32 086	--	--	1 587	33 673
Germany	356 910	81 640	28 403	29	12 507	--	--	1 571	14 078
Gibraltar	6	27	23	1	5	--	--	3	8
Great Britain	230 762	55 881	5 176	32	3 176	--	--	475	3 651
Greece	131 990	10 460	61	11	65	--	--	35	100
Hungary	93 032	10 220	6 602	16	2 175	--	--	98	2 273
Iceland	103 000	270	3	1	4	--	--	7	11
Ireland	84 405	5 959	4 474	26	1 359	--	--	35	1 394
Italy	301 268	57 190	55 599	228	25 769	--	--	6 013	31 782
Latvia	63 700	2 510	500	4	175	--	--	42	217
Liechtenstein	160	29	22	--	9	--	--	3	12
Lithuania	65 200	3 710	3 119	6	666	--	--	80	746
Luxembourg	2 586	410	386	1	275	--	--	--	275
Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Rep)	40 887	4 400	63	1	25	--	2	--	27
Malta	316	378	347	2	80	--	--	2	82
Moldova, Republic of	33 700	4 340	15	2	7	--	--	--	7
Monaco	1	30	27	1	6	--	--	2	8
Netherlands	40 844	15 450	5 709	8	1 718	--	--	108	1 826
Norway	323 895	4 360	41	3	33	--	--	--	33
Poland	312 677	38 590	36 853	43	9 514	--	--	777	10 291
Portugal	92 389	10 800	9 948	21	4 346	--	--	2 516	6 862
Romania	237 500	22 680	2 654	12	1 799	--	--	14	1 813
Russian Fed. (in Europe)	4 551 885	130 090	306	2	86	--	--	--	86
San Marino	61	25	24	--	12	--	--	--	12
Slovakia	49 450	5 360	3 652	7	1 415	--	--	35	1 450
Slovenia	20 248	1 980	1 654	3	797	--	--	53	850
Spain	504 782	39 210	36 956	68	21 641	--	--	4 312	25 953
Svalbard and Jan Mayen Is.	62 422	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Sweden	440 945	8 830	165	1	40	--	--	--	40
Switzerland	41 293	7 040	3 266	8	1 668	--	--	270	1 938
Ukraine	603 700	51 640	5 752	14	3 323	--	--	141	3 464
Yugoslavia	81 376	7 931	446	5	214	--	--	5	219
TOTAL EUROPE	10 504 507	711 497	288 953	714	137 484	--	2	20 006	157 492

STATISTICS ON CHURCH POPULATION AND STRUCTURE

(As at 31st December 1995)

OCEANIA

Country	Area in sq. km	Total population (thousands)	Catholics (thousands)	Administrative divisions of the Catholic church	Pastoral centres
Parishes or equivalent	Missions with a resident priest	Missions without a resident priest	Other pastoral centres	Other
Australia	7 687 033	18 050	5 102	32	1 426	--	--	112	1 538
Canton and Enderbury Is.	70	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Cook Islands	236	20	3	1	15	8	7	--	30
Fiji	18 274	796	79	1	34	--	--	3	37
Guam	541	136	115	1	23	--	3	--	26
Kiribati	728	74	39	1	22	--	--	--	22
Marianas	476	63	56	1	10	2	--	--	12
Marshall Islands	181	50	4	1	4	--	7	--	11
Micronesia, Fed. S.	784	107	56	1	20	--	2	6	28
Nauru	21	7	3	--	1	--	--	--	1
New Caledonia	19 079	165	106	1	38	--	131	--	169
New Zealand	268 676	3 540	501	7	282	--	54	23	359
Nive	260	3	--	--	1	1	--	--	2
Palau	459	16	8	--	2	--	1	6	9
Papua New Guinea	462 840	4 070	1 425	18	380	--	1 783	72	2 235
Polynesia, French	4 000	220	89	2	85	--	23	--	108
Samoa	2 831	166	37	1	27	--	--	--	27
Samoa, American	199	56	9	1	8	--	25	1	34
Solomon Islands	28 896	380	72	3	28	--	47	2	77
Tokelau Islands	12	2	1	1	2	--	--	--	2
Tonga	750	96	14	1	13	--	--	--	13
Tuvalu Islands	26	9	--	1	1	--	--	--	1
Vanuatu	12 189	159	26	1	18	--	--	--	18
Wake Island	8	--	--	--	2	--	--	--	2
Wallis and Futuna Islands	200	15	15	1	5	--	--	11	16
TOTAL OCEANIA	8 508 769	28 200	7 760	77	2 447	11	2 083	236	4 777
TOTAL WORLD	135 789 528	5 687 374	989 366	2 748	220 077	922	110 502	86 691	418 192

STATISTICS ON CHURCH POPULATION AND STRUCTURE

(As at 31st December 1995)

TOTAL WORLD

Country	Area in sq. km	Total population (thousands)	Catholics (thousands)	Administrative divisions of the Catholic church	Pastoral centres
Parishes or equivalent	Missions with a resident priest	Missions without a resident priest	Other pastoral centres	Other
TOTAL AFRICA	30 306 780	725 850	107 077	462	9 692	694	71 548	961	82 895
TOTAL AMERICA NORTH	21 524 648	292 762	69 614	267	24 764	20	73	2 562	27 419
TOTAL CENT. AMER. MAINLAND	2 481 366	123 541	115 721	136	6 742	9	2 041	6 979	15 771
TOTAL CENT. AMER. ANTILLES	234 656	35 890	22 941	51	1 551		223	3 202	4 976
TOTAL AMERICA SOUTH	17 818 694	313 354	276 090	570	19 065	11	2 713	45 203	66 992
TOTAL AMERIQUE	42 059 364	765 547	484 366	1 024	52 122	40	5 050	57 946	115 158
TOTAL ASIA MIDDLE-EAST	3 842 324	198 430	3 152	83	1 541			109	1 650
TOTAL ASIA SOUTH-EAST, FAR EAST	40 567 784	3 257 850	98 058	388	16 791	177	31 819	7 433	56 220
TOTAL ASIA	44 410 108	3 456 280	101 210	471	18 332	177	31 819	7 542	57 870
TOTAL EUROPE	10 504 507	711 497	288 953	714	137 484		2	20 006	157 492
TOTAL OCEANIA	8 508 769	28 200	7 760	77	2 447	11	2 083	236	4 777
TOTAL WORLD	135 789 528	5 687 374	989 366	2 748	220 077	922	110 502	86 691	418 192

PART TWO

Information relating to articles 2 to 7 of the Convention

I. GENERAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK PROHIBITING AND ELIMINATING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

6. Before reporting on the implementation of articles 2,3,5 and 7 of the Convention, we will briefly analyse the general legal framework which makes it evident that racial discrimination is prohibited and eliminated, and that the promotion, enjoyment and exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms are encouraged and confirmed in the political, economic, social and cultural fields and in all sectors of public life.

A. General remarks

7. As regards information concerning legislative measures taken by the Holy See in connection with the elimination of racial discrimination, we wish to explain that while we are not in a position to answer all the questions pertaining to law which are contained in the "Guidelines" (CERD/C/70/Rev.3), it is evident from the very nature of the Catholic Church and from the spirit of its laws that the Church rejects and condemns racial discrimination and that it has a positive attitude aimed at promoting multiracial integration.

8. In this context we wish to recall a factor of great legal importance, namely the fact that the Catholic Church is, by its nature and in reality, universal and that it is therefore "the obligation and inherent right of the Church […] to preach the Gospel to all peoples" (can. 747, para . 1). Its laws concern peoples from all continents and races; it establishes, in an absolute manner, the equality of all the faithful; and it effectively and positively protects friendly coexistence and multiracial integration, implicitly condemning all forms of racism.

9. On the basis of this principle of fundamental equality, the faithful (in the Church, the concept of faithful coincides with that of "subject in law" [can.96]) have the same rights and the same duties and possess the same legal capacity. In canon law, diversity does not result from differences in the legal status of persons in their being (principle of legal equality between subjects) but from the legal status proper to each, determined by the diversity of vocations and the difference between roles.

10. In its own legislation, the Catholic Church clearly confirms two fundamental principles which should be seen as measures designed to safeguard the principles set out in paragraph 10, subparagraphs 1 to 5 of the "Guidelines", viz. :

(a) First, the Catholic Church affirms its right to defend fundamental values and rights (which naturally include multiracial non-discrimination): "The Church has the right always and everywhere to proclaim moral principles, even in respect of the social order, and to make judgements about any human matter in so far as this is required by fundamental human rights or the salvation of souls" (can.747, para.2);

Second, it explicitly establishes the primacy of international obligations contracted under treaties into which the Apostolic See has entered with States or other political entities. In particular, conventions to which the Holy See is a party are placed on a level higher than ordinary laws, subject to full respect of those areas of its own legislation "which are essentially within [its] domestic jurisdiction" (cf. Article 2, paragraph 7, of the Charter of the United Nations). Such conventions assume the quality of standards in the law of the Holy See: "The canons of the Code do not abrogate, nor do they derogate from, agreements entered into by the Apostolic See with […] civil entities; such agreements therefore remain in force notwithstanding any contrary provisions of this Code" (can.3).

B . Doctrine underlying canonical law

11. Canon 748, paragraph 2, enshrines the freedom of conscience and of religion which is the precondition, principle and foundation of all other freedoms, human and civil, individual and communal: "No one is ever permitted to oblige others by constraint to adhere to the Catholic faith against their conscience."

12. Canon 219 proclaims the right to the choice of one's state in life within the Catholic Church, resulting from a free choice and a conscious decision. This right includes the guarantee of immunity from all coercion: in order to choose their state in life within the Church, the faithful have the right not to have undue obstacles placed in the way of their carrying the decision taken: "All Christ's faithful have the right to immunity from any kind of coercion in choosing a state in life."

13. Canon 215 grants to all the faithful the right to the natural right of association, based directly upon the social nature of the human person and the social nature of the Church, as well as the right of assembly, which is defined as the freedom of the faithful to meet for purposes consistent with their Christian vocation in the world: "Christ's faithful may freely establish and direct associations which serve charitable or pious purposes or which foster the Christian vocation in the world, and they may hold meetings to pursue these purposes by common consent."

14. The fundamental right of human beings, deriving from natural law itself, to have their good reputation respected, and the correlated duty to respect the right of persons to protect their privacy, are set forth in Canon 220. Accordingly, no individual may be subjected to arbitrary interference in his or her private life, family, home or correspondence: "No one may unlawfully harm the good reputation which a person enjoys, or violate the right of every person to protect his or her privacy."

15. Canon 223, paragraph 1, imposes some intrinsic limits upon the exercise of rights, namely, the common good of the Church, the rights of others and duties to others. These limits must be respected by the faithful themselves:

"In exercising their rights, Christ's faithful, both individually and in associations, must take account of the common good of the Church, as well as of the rights of others and their own duties to others."

Paragraph 2 indicates the extrinsic limits to the exercise of these rights which ecclesiastical authority may set with a view to safeguarding the common good:

"Ecclesiastical authority is entitled to regulate, in view of the common good, the exercise of rights which are proper to Christ's faithful."

In conformity with the general principles of international human rights law, the limits set in both cases apply to "the exercise of rights" and not to the rights themselves.

II. IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLES 2, 3, 5 AND 7

Article 2

A . Information on legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures

16. Canon 204, paragraph 1, which reproduces the definition of the concept of "Christ's faithful", the equivalent of the concept of "subject of law" within the Church, set forth in Canon 96: "By baptism one is incorporated into the Church of Christ and constituted a person in it, with the duties and rights which […] are proper to Christians […]", thus firmly underscoring the radical equality of all members of the Church, recognizes in the element of "communion" the basic concept upon which this radical equality is founded and which links all the faithful with the work the Church is called upon to do in the world:

"1. Christ's faithful are those who, since they are incorporated into Christ through baptism, are constituted the people of God. For this reason they participate in their own way in the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ. They are called, each according to his or her particular condition, to exercise the mission which God entrusted to the Church to fulfil in the world."

17. On the basis of the principle set forth in canon 204, canon 208 proclaims the full equality of all the faithful in terms of both "dignity" and "action": "Flowing from their rebirth in Christ, there is a genuine equality of dignity and action among all of Christ's faithful […]". Even if the rights enumerated in Title I are not formally described as "fundamental" or "original", canonical doctrine generally admits that they have the nature of authentic "primary" or "constitutional" rights, that is to say of rights which form an integral part of the very constitution of the Church. These rights relating to the state of freedom and dignity of the faithful are intrinsic - iura nativa - and they take precedence over any formulation in positive law.

Article 3

Subparagraph A. Condemnation of racial segregation

18. Extracts from speeches with a bearing on racism and xenophobia made by the Holy Father in 1992 and 1993 will be found in the 12 paragraphs below.

To the regional council of Lazio (3 February 1992)

19. " Lazio is known to have the largest number of immigrants from outside the European Union, and no one is unaware of the problems which this phenomenon entails or of the urgency of the need to remedy it. The harsh reality of immigration demands that it be given a great deal of attention, for the phenomenon is tending to become more serious as new situations arise in different countries. We are confronted with an event of vast proportions such as has occurred at other times in the history of mankind. It is therefore necessary to face the many needs that arise with courage and confidence, so that today's society may avoid all forms of racial discrimination, and to promote a sense of justice and of human solidarity."

To representatives of other religions at Ziguinchor , Senegal (20 February 1992)

20. "Man's origin and his divine destiny are the foundations of his dignity. No one has the right to despise another human being, least of all one weaker than oneself. There is no justification whatever for discrimination based on race, religion, gender or social status: every person is to be respected."

On the occasion of the 27 th anniversary of the Nostra aetate declaration of the Vatican Council (28 October 1992)

21. "More generally, in face of the episodes of xenophobia, the racial tensions and the extremist and fanatical forms of nationalism common today, I feel it my duty to repeat that every form of racism is a sin against God and man, for every human person carries the divine image imprinted upon him or her."

To bishops from the Federal Republic of Germany on a visit ad limina (14 November 1992)

22. "Everything must be done to prevent the spread of racism and nationalism."

To bishops from the Federal Republic of Germany on a visit ad limina (4 December 1992)

23. "The teaching of religion can ward off the danger of false idols, such as nationalism and racism."

To clients and voluntary helpers at the Colle Oppio popular restaurant in Rome (20 December 1992)

24 . "Rome must refuse all forms of racism and xenophobia. And in this respect there are three principles to which the diocese must commit itself: to reaffirm the ancient tradition of Rome as a city of welcome and openness to all, in harmony with its Christian history; to refuse any form of racism and xenophobia and permanently to transmit a message of respect and welcome to people from different cultures and nations; to mobilize voluntary forces, so numerous and plentiful, by orienting them towards the service of those called "foreigners" according to their legal status but not from the viewpoint of faith and common humanity. I would go even further by saying that Christian Rome wants to adopt a cultural line that regards immigrants not only as the poor whom we are called upon to receive, nor merely as citizens whose rights we must respect, but as potential members to be integrated in our society, to which they can contribute new energies and original inputs."

To Hungarian bishops on a visit ad limina (28 January 1993)

25. "A constructive collaboration must urgently be established against the awakening of racism and anti-Semitism in Europe."

Letter to the Bishop of Bielsko-Zywiec on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the first transport of Gypsies to the Auschwitz- Birkenau concentration camp (7 April 1993)

26. "For us, men of the 20 th century, Auschwitz is a warning that has lost none of its timeliness; it is a dramatic cry for respect of the dignity and the inalienable rights both of single individuals and of whole nations. We must not allow this to be forgotten, especially today when new centres of discrimination and hatred based on ethnic factors are erupting in the very heart of Europe, engendering abuses of power, violence and the shedding of innocent blood […] On this occasion I wish to pronounce words of Christian solidarity with the whole Roma people, so sorely tried during the Second World War, a people which, unfortunately, forms to this day the object of prejudice, acts of intolerance and even open discrimination in many countries although it possesses an inalienable right to a fitting place in social life and a socio -cultural identity of its own."

To the President of the Republic of the Sudan, Khartoum (10 February 1993)

27. In a multiracial and multicultural country, a strategy of confrontation can never bring peace and progress. Only respect of human rights, guaranteed by law within a system of justice and equality for all, can create the right conditions for peaceful coexistence and cooperation in the service of the common good. My hope for your country can therefore be expressed more concretely as a profound desire to see all its citizens - without any discrimination founded upon ethnic origin, cultural or social status or religious convictions - take a responsible part in the life of the nation, contributing by their diversity to the wealth of the national community as a whole […] The Church approaches this question essentially from a humanitarian and moral point of view. The universal obligation to understand and respect the variety and rich diversity of other peoples, societies, cultures and religions rests upon two fundamental principles. The first is the inalienable dignity of every individual, irrespective of his or her national, cultural, ethnic or racial origin or religious belief; that dignity means that when human beings join into groups, they have the right to enjoy a collective identity. Accordingly, minorities have the right to exist within a country with their own language, culture and traditions, and the State is morally obliged to provide a living space for these identities and these particular forms of expression. The second principle is the fundamental unity of the human race, which derives its origin from God, the Creator of all things; this unity implies that no group has the right to feel superior to another. It also implies that integration can be built upon an effective solidarity free from all discrimination."

To representatives of Jewish communities on the occasion of a concert in commemoration of the Shoah (7 April 1994)

28. "Today we are witnessing many new manifestations of anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racial hatred which sowed the seeds of such unspeakable crimes. Mankind cannot allow this to happen again […] In face of the dangers threatening the sons and daughters of the present generation, Christians and Jews have much to offer to a world which is struggling to distinguish good from evil, which is called by the Creator to defend and protect life, but which also finds itself powerless against voices spreading ideas that can only lead to death and destruction."

Message for World Migrants Day (6 August 1993)

29. "It is the task of the State to ensure that immigrant families, their particular requirements being duly taken into account, are not deprived of what is normally provided for the families of its own citizens. In particular, it is up to the State to protect immigrant families against all attempts at exclusion and racism by fostering a convinced and effective culture of solidarity."

To bishops from California, Nevada and Hawaii (United States) on a visit ad limina (4 December 1993)

30."In your pastoral ministry you are often faced with manifestations of a persistent racism which undermines the foundations of a just and democratic society. Racism is an intolerable injustice because of the conflicts it provokes, and even more because of the way in which it debases the inalienable dignity of all human beings, whatever their racial or ethnic origin. Your frequent declarations on these subjects, and the great diversity of your pastoral activities on behalf of various ethnic groups present in your dioceses, far from endorsing the separation or isolation of groups and communities, are designed to comply with the Church's vocation as the expression and instrument of the greatest unit in the entire human family. Addressing another group of bishops, I have spoken of the needs of the numerous Hispanic communities in your dioceses and of their special contribution to the life of the Church. By your backing of a national pastoral plan for Black Catholics you have demonstrated your esteem and support for believers who want to be "true Blacks and true Catholics". I also express my satisfaction with your commitment to the promotion of solidarity with the Native American community, especially as regards social justice in the fields of health, housing, employment and education. Success in all these endeavours depends largely on efforts to foster the revival of family life and parish schools, to minister to young people on the margins of society, and to promote vocations within all groups."

Subparagraph B. Diplomatic relations with South Africa

31. The establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Republic of South Africa was announced on Saturday, 5 March 1994, several weeks after the appointment of the "Transitional Executive Council" and the approval of the Provisional Constitution in that country. The Holy See's decision to accept the South African Government's request for diplomatic relations had a twofold significance: first, that of a just recognition of the persistent efforts of the main parties involved in the negotiating process to achieve a peaceful transition towards the "new South African State"; and, second, that of reassuring all South African Catholics and encouraging them to continue making a constructive contribution towards genuine reconciliation in their country. On 25 June 1994, the Apostolic Delegate to Pretoria was appointed Apostolic Nuncio.

32. The Holy See has taken every opportunity, in particular through the Apostolic Delegation instituted in 1922, to give its support to, and express its approval of, episcopal action on behalf of the cause of peace and the defence of fundamental human rights in South Africa. Over the years the Holy See has repeatedly taken steps to strengthen the possibilities for dialogue and for the initiation of a process of peace and reconciliation among all components of South African society. We may recall, inter alia , the audience granted by the Holy Father to the then President of South Africa, P.W.Botha , twelve years ago; the missions performed by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray in 1988 and 1991; the pontifical audience granted to Mr. Nelson Mandela , leader of the ANC, in June 1990; and, lastly, the visit to the Vatican by President F.W. De Klerk on 13 December 1993.

33. On 17 and 18 September 1995 the Holy Father made a pastoral visit to South Africa, where he presided over the celebration phase of the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops. Before 500 000 persons, including President Mandela and Vice-Presidents De Klerk and Nbeki , assembled at the Germiston racecourse in Johannesburg, the Pope spoke of the great challenges facing the African continent and affirmed that "solidarity is, above all else, the response that is needed in order to overcome the utter moral bankruptcy of racial prejudice and ethnic rivalry".

Article 5

Subparagraph A. Right to equal treatment before the courts

34. The three paragraphs of Canon 221 serve a twofold purpose: to proclaim the rights of the faithful in connection with the administration of justice within the Church and to provide a series of legal guarantees for the protection of other individual rights with a view to avoiding, inter alia , possible abuses arising from arbitrary conduct by authority. To that end, three fundamental rights are set forth for the legal protection of persons who are subject to the jurisdiction of the Church:

(a) The right to defend their rights before the courts: "1. Christ's faithful may lawfully vindicate and defend the rights they enjoy in the Church, before the competent ecclesiastical forum in accordance with the law";

(b) The right to be judged in a fair trial: "2. If any members of Christ's faithful are summoned to trial by the competent authority, they have the right to be judged according to the provisions of the law, to be applied with equity";

(c) The principle of legality in penal matters: "3. Christ's faithful have the right not to have any canonical penalties imposed upon them except in accordance with the law".

35. Canon 1321 protects the individual from arbitrary action by defining the objective and subjective elements of the offence and the principle of legality in penal matters, as follows:

"1. No one shall be punished unless the external violation of the law or precept through malice or culpability be gravely imputable to him.

"2. A person who deliberately violates the law or precept shall suffer the penalty established by law; but a person who does so due to lack of due diligence shall not be punished, unless the law or precept provides otherwise."

36. Canon 1347, paragraph 1, as well as Canon 1395, paragraph 1, stipulate that no heavy penalty may be imposed if the culprit has not received at least one warning and has not been allowed reasonable time to reform:

"No censure can be validly imposed unless the guilty person has been warned at least once to desist from the offence and granted a suitable period of time to mend his ways."

Subparagraph C. Participation of the faithful in the apostolic mission and in the duties of the Church

37. Canon 208, after proclaiming the equality of all Christ's faithful, states that, because of their equality, "they all contribute, each according to his or her own condition and office, towards the construction of the edifice of the Body of Christ".

38. Canon 211 confirms the right to participate in the apostolic mission. This inherent right is not bestowed by any authority but derives from the vocation proper to all faithful by virtue of baptism and confirmation. It is a genuine right because the apostolic mission has an external dimension and because it bestows upon the faithful the erga omnes right to be respected in the lawful accomplishment of their apostolic activities: "All Christ's faithful have the obligation and the right to strive to make the divine message of salvation heard increasingly by all peoples at all times".

39. By virtue of the provisions of Canon 212, all Christ's faithful have the right to address themselves to the Church authorities in order not only to submit requests requiring a specific response but also to express opinions and to formulate objections, in written or oral form, individually or collectively, in connection with Church activities to which they wish to draw particular attention:

"2. Christ's faithful are at liberty to make known their needs […] and their wishes to the Pastors of the Church".

"3. They have the right, indeed at times the duty […] to manifest to the sacred Pastors their views on matters which concern the good of the Church. They also have the right to make their views known to others of Christ's faithful […] taking into account both the common good and the dignity of individuals."

40. Canon 222, paragraph 2, requires the faithful "to promote social justice and […] to help the poor from their own resources". In this way the canon lays down the obligation - which thus becomes a right - of individual members of the community of Christ to promote genuine social justice, which also includes multiracial equality. The specific method used to promote social justice will depend, in practice, on the attitude, possibilities and status of each of the faithful.

41. Canon 227 bestows upon lay members of the community of Christ a twofold freedom in the sphere of secular interests and activities: in relation to the civil authorities, through acknowledgement of the fundamental and inalienable rights of all citizens, and in relation to the Church authorities, through recognition of their lawful autonomy: "To lay members of Christ's faithful belongs the right to have acknowledged as theirs the freedom in secular affairs which is common to all citizens".

42. Canon 228 does not, strictly speaking, formulate a right; rather, it speaks of the capacity of all faithful to be appointed by the lawful authorities to ecclesiastical offices and functions in accordance with the law, and also to participate in collegiate bodies and to serve as "experts" or "advisers":

"1. Lay people […] are capable of being admitted by the sacred Pastors to those ecclesiastical offices and functions which, in accordance with the provisions of the law, they can discharge.

"2. Lay people […] are capable of being experts or advisers, even in councils in accordance with the law".

43. Canon 231 concerns lay people who pledge themselves, permanently or for a time, to a particular service of the Church. An appropriate remuneration enabling them to provide for their families is due to them as a matter of justice. In addition, they are entitled to all the social and civil benefits provided by civil law:

"2.[…] they (i.e., lay people so pledged) have the right to reasonable remuneration befitting their condition, whereby, with due regard also to the provisions of civil law, they can decently provide for their own needs and the needs of their families. Likewise, they have the right to have their insurance, social security and medical benefits duly safeguarded."

44. Ordination to the ministry is not a provision of a legal nature; it is governed by the fundamental constitution of the Church. Consequently, since it is not a "function", it cannot be regarded as a "right".

Article 7

Subparagraph A. Education and teaching

Canonical doctrine

45. Canon 217 acknowledges the right of the faithful to a Christian education, a right that derives from the vocation, common to all the baptised , to take part in the Church's mission of evangelization. Christian education is not confined to the transmission of purely theoretical knowledge; it also includes the right to such training as is necessary in order to achieve maturity as a human being: "Christ's faithful […] have the right to a Christian education which genuinely teaches them to strive for the maturity of the human person […]."

46. Canon 218 formally proclaims, as a corollary of the foregoing right to a Christian education, the right to research and to expression of those who engage in the study of the sacred sciences, in other words the right to obtain information and to disseminate their ideas: "Those who are engaged in fields of sacred study have a just freedom to research matters in which they are expert and to express themselves prudently concerning them […]".

47. Canon 229 defines the right and the duty of lay faithful to engage in studies that will enable them to receive the doctrinal training necessary for the full exercise of their Christian calling. It also specifies that this right includes the possibility for the faithful to receive higher education. Lastly, as a consequence of these provisions, the canon proclaims the fundamental right of lay people, once they have acquired the necessary training, to teach the sacred sciences:

"1. Lay people have […] the right to acquire the knowledge of Christian teaching which is appropriate to each one's capacity and condition […].

"2. They also have the right to acquire that fuller knowledge of the sacred sciences which is taught in ecclesiastical universities or faculties or in institutes of religious sciences, attending lectures there and acquiring academic degrees.

"3. Likewise, {…] they are capable of receiving […] a mandate to teach the sacred sciences."

48. In accordance with Canons 226, 793 and 1136, parents have a solemn legal obligation to give their children a Christian education, making use of all possibilities offered by the educational system. This obligation is, of course, accompanied by the primary right of parents to "bring up their children", to "do all in their power to ensure their children's physical, social, cultural, moral and religious upbringing", and "to choose those means and institutions which […] can best promote the Catholic education of their children".

Catholic educational institutions

49. There are approximately 170 000 Catholic schools of all kinds and at all levels world-wide, with over 42 million pupils. In Europe there are over 30 000 such schools, with around 8 million pupils (data supplied to the congress of the European Committee for Catholic Teaching held at Augsburg , Germany, from 31 October to 3 November 1996).

50. In certain Western countries where parity exists between State and private education, the number of pupils at Catholic schools is steadily increasing. In Germany, according to the German Bishops' Conference, it has risen by 8.2% over the past three years, 25 000 new enrolments being registered in the year 1998 alone. In the United States, too, Catholic schools enjoy great prestige, as demonstrated by the steady progression of American Catholic institutions, the number of enrolments having risen by 20 000 every year since 1990.

51. In the countries of Eastern Europe, Catholic education is coming back to life slowly and with difficulty in view of the extremely adverse economic conditions. The difficulties are also due to a certain ambiguity in the legal set-up and to the shortage of competent trained staff, especially teachers. For example, Romania, which had 300 Catholic schools before the advent of communism, now has only a few tens of such schools.

52. In many countries of the Middle East and Asia, the activities of Catholic schools largely outstrip the size of the Catholic population; often they not only represent the only possibility of bearing evangelical witness, but also make a high-quality contribution to the cultural and educational life of the countries concerned.

Special activities

53. The intensive training of both teachers and students provided by the Centro Educazione alla Mondialita of the Xaverian Centre for Missionary Activities at Parma (Italy) deserves special mention. In Germany, certain dioceses, such as Hildesheim , organize meetings of young people of different nationalities and origins with a view to promoting the integration of foreigners in that country.

54. Bosnia is giving a remarkable example in terms of education for tolerance. The arch-diocese of Sarajevo has recently founded three schools, called "Schools for Europe", with the intention of educating students of different religious creeds, as well as some students who do not profess any religion, in a spirit of dialogue and peace. These schools are at present attended by approximately 1 600 Serb, Bosnian and Croat students. The arch-diocese of Sarajevo plans to open other "Schools for Europe" in eleven other Bosnian cities in the near future.

55. In Jerusalem, "Schmidt's Girls' College", founded in 1886 and directed by the Maria Ward Sisters, has about 480 pupils aged between 4 and 19. Two-thirds of these girls are Muslims and one-third are Christians. The teachers are Palestinians or belong to other nationalities. This school stands in the front rank of education for tolerance; above all, it provides a concrete example of the possibility of peaceful and convivial relations between individuals of different religions and nationalities.

Statistics on Catholic educational establishments

56. Statistical and other information relating to education will be found in sections 1 and 2, below. Section 1 gives the world-wide picture and Section 2 deals specifically with Australia, Canada and the Holy Land.

1. World-wide statistics

57. The tables below give the 1995 figures for pre-school establishments, primary schools, secondary schools, higher educational establishments and universities published by the Statistical Office of the Church.

58. The Congregation for Catholic Education, the Holy See's office in charge of matters pertaining to education and schools, has supplied the following information on the activities of Catholic schools and the composition of the student population:

(a) In the United States of America, Catholics accounted for 12.8% of students in the school year 1993-1994; in the same year, more than 24% of all school children came from ethnic minorities. Integration of minorities is one of the objectives pursued by Catholic schools;

(b) In Lebanon, some 32% of all schoolchildren attend Catholic schools, which try to educate all citizens - not only Christians - for peace and freedom;

(c) In India, a large proportion of pupils of Catholic schools are not Christians;

(d) In Tunisia, Catholic schools - far from being reserved for Catholic children - are open to all and are promoting tolerance. They have 5 000 pupils, a large number compared with the size of the Catholic population, which totals only 18 000 persons;

(e) In Germany, the student population of Catholic schools is composed of about 40% Catholics, 20% Protestants and 40% children who have not been baptised (members of other religions or non-believers).

59. It should also be pointed out that in many countries where the majority of the population is non-Christian, Catholic schools are often the only place where children and young people of different faiths, cultures, social classes or ethnic backgrounds come into contact with each other. The Catholic International Education Office (CIEO) is promoting literacy projects in Haiti, Bolivia, Senegal and Cameroon while endeavouring to protect the local cultures and to combat discriminatory practices affecting rural or underprivileged populations.

CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1995

AFRICA

Country	Pre-school establishments	Primary or elementary schools	Secondary schools	Higher education establishments and universities Students registered in universities
Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Students registered in higher education establishments	Ecclesiastical studies	Other
Algeria	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Angola	--	--	73	26 403	32	28 075	--	--	--
Benin	4	455	25	3 662	18	3 982	--	--	--
Botswana	9	350	9	4 900	4	2 714	--	--	--
Burkina Faso	13	330	34	769	19	4 957	1 609	--	--
Burundi	2	220	323	85 554	21	8 671	--	--	--
Cameroon	201	13 329	962	256 892	111	48 134	124	381	302
Cape Verde	25	2 023	14	1 759	20	1 733	--	--	--
Central African Republic	40	2 868	31	5 336	14	1 758	--	--	--
Chad	17	1 163	41	14 831	7	2 299	--	--	--
Comoros	3	165	1	80	--	--	--	--	--
Congo	11	750	10	675	2	336	--	--	--
Côte d'Ivoire	53	3 444	285	72 971	33	14 051	132	205	--
Djibouti	1	80	9	2 000	1	195	--	--	--
Egypt	174	25 961	153	82 254	54	20 033	--	--	--
Eritrea	25	2 324	46	7 315	5	2 300	--	--	--
Ethiopia	85	10 560	147	50 357	38	12 108	--	29	--
Gabon	26	6 123	216	41 458	19	8 473	--	--	--
Gambia	6	1 550	41	9 005	11	7 050	--	--	--
Ghana	815	58 579	1 776	352 517	762	107 793	1 200	--	--
Guinea	40	3 406	13	2 250	6	1 105	--	--	--
Guinea‑Bissau	--	--	4	1 100	3	600	--	--	--
Guinea, Equatorial	10	862	34	6 803	6	3734	--	--	--
Kenya	1 969	104 832	5 202	1 589 033	921	237 981	250	1 625	20 000
Lesotho	79	6 866	486	154 016	83	25 204	--	--	--
Liberia	30	5 177	36	13 089	26	10 233	--	--	570
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Madagascar	281	36 409	2 019	298 729	187	88 892	1 048	--	--
Malawi	11	1 015	987	700 890	49	17 298	--	--	--
Mali	6	1 213	45	15 992	28	8 460	--	--	--
Mauritania	4	380	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Mauritius	5	155	52	22 641	20	23 550	--	--	--
Morocco	23	4 406	28	8 979	32	3 753	--	--	--
Mozambique	14	1 319	73	19 163	16	3 681	--	--	--
Namibia	19	1 056	20	8 088	6	1 593	--	--	--
Niger	4	1 300	7	4 500	2	1 450	--	--	--
Nigeria	1 380	150 818	1 246	380 403	208	187 170	2 734	577	--
Réunion	25	1 400	30	10 000	9	4 000	--	--	--
Rwanda	39	2 304	1 013	583 713	93	31 243	124	--	--
Sahara, Western	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Saint Helena	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Sao Tome and Principe	1	520	--	--	1	90	--	--	--
Senegal	75	5 954	118	41 254	42	16 012	205	--	--
Seychelles	--	--	5	2 800	--	--	--	--	--
Sierra Leone	19	3 393	381	85 766	37	15 545	400	--	--
Somalia	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
South Africa	230	17 367	256	72 881	94	27 732	605	--	5
Sudan	293	25 283	188	71 357	21	8 661	273	--	--
Swaziland	14	900	45	18 500	12	5 800	--	--	--
Tanzania, United Republic of	512	61 474	77	146 365	159	31 191	--	--	--
Togo	74	2 741	373	120 331	35	14 135	--	112	20
Tunisia	6	982	9	4 070	9	1 268	--	--	--
Uganda	506	45 418	4 428	1 629 840	450	161 853	230	66	192
Zaire	186	24 271	6 238	2 273 926	1 789	450 720	3 444	885	2 682
Zambia	16	1 880	9	1 881	38	14 573	--	200	--
Zimbabwe	55	2 845	70	49 262	58	29 516	772	--	--
TOTAL AFRICA – AFRIQUE	7 436	646 220	27 688	9 356 360	5 611	1 701 705	13 150	4 080	23 711

CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1995

AMERICA NORTH

Country	Pre-school establishments	Primary or elementary schools	Secondary schools	Higher education establishments and universities Students registered in universities
Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Students registered in higher education establishments	Ecclesiastical studies	Other
Bermuda	1	35	1	317	1	165	--	--	--
Canada	473	15 943	1 271	418 756	328	216 323	7 350	4 223	26 267
Greenland	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
St. Pierre and Miquelon	3	174	2	254	1	194	--	--	--
United States	5 668	218 122	6 964	1 815 281	1 280	638 440	335 558	43 128	338 292
TOTAL AMERICA NORTH –	6 145	234 274	8 238	2 234 608	1 610	855 122	342 908	47 351	364 559

CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1995

CENTRAL AMERICA MAINLAND

Country	Pre-school establishments	Primary or elementary schools	Secondary schools	Higher education establishments and universities Students registered in universities
Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Students registered in higher education establishments	Ecclesiastical studies	Other
Belize	--	--	130	29 828	6	6 017	--	--	--
Costa Rica	40	2 555	38	13 035	36	17 732	--	--	--
El Salvador	75	7 492	83	45 425	34	12 805	78	7 009	2 656
Guatemala	38	2 185	516	85 272	91	30 726	100	340	2 129
Honduras	35	2 297	29	11 057	30	22 602	136	2	226
Mexico	1 158	83 280	1 900	629 420	1 118	297 526	18 977	744	64 170
Nicaragua	57	9 023	333	44 654	78	27 425	400	225	223
Panama	77	3 235	38	25 187	38	14 033	28	291	5 765
TOTAL CENTR. AMER/MAINL –	1 480	110 067	3 067	883 878	1 431	428 866	19 719	8 611	75 169

CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1995

CENTRAL AMERICA ANTILLES

Country	Pre-school establishments	Primary or elementary schools	Secondary schools	Higher education establishments and universities Students registered in universities
Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Students registered in higher education establishments	Ecclesiastical studies	Other
Anguilla	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Antigua and Barbuda	--	--	1	583	2	562	--	--	--
Aruba	17	2 050	27	6 009	10	2 005	--	--	--
Bahamas	11	887	11	2 709	3	1 879	347	--	--
Barbados	2	312	2	397	2	433	--	--	--
Cayman Islands	--	--	1	350	--	--	--	--	--
Cuba	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Dominica	21	785	5	2 619	3	1 236	--	--	--
Dominican Republic	83	9 543	165	94 435	114	53 812	3 721	695	15 953
Grenada	17	1 175	25	6 488	5	782	--	--	--
Guadeloupe	12	1 709	13	2 830	20	3 442	--	--	--
Haiti	234	10 601	1 162	439 831	149	27 831	602	--	--
Jamaica	39	3 756	51	34 857	16	17 433	306	--	--
Martinique	7	465	8	1 689	4	1 642	--	--	--
Montserrat	--	--	1	132	--	--	--	--	--
Netherlands Antilles	40	4 664	64	15 141	22	7 020	--	--	--
Puerto Rico	108	5 574	131	41 898	105	26 353	1 179	--	23 545
Aint Kitts and Nevis	--	--	2	449	1	156	--	--	--
Saint Lucia	--	--	51	21 500	3	1 800	--	--	--
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	6	366	2	665	3	1 116	--	--	--
Trinidad and Tobago	11	350	122	50 000	24	13 000	--	--	--
Turks and Caicos Islands	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Virgin Islands (Great Brit.)	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Virgin Islands (USA)	3	89	3	713	2	382	--	--	--
TOTAL CENTR. AMER/ANTIL –	611	42 326	1 847	723 295	488	160 884	6 155	695	39 498

CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1995

AMERICA SOUTH

Country	Pre-school establishments	Primary or elementary schools	Secondary schools	Higher education establishments and universities Students registered in universities
Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Students registered in higher education establishments	Ecclesiastical studies	Other
Argentina	1 436	150 991	1 584	667 724	1 322	380 112	36 276	609	31 692
Bolivia	142	11 895	610	186 609	217	84 535	3 445	580	10 884
Brazil	2 091	272 684	2 635	918 587	1 063	368 728	15 007	1 455	266 404
Chile	459	30 984	740	306 124	454	116 178	581	125	32 337
Colombia	730	91 771	1 554	506 809	997	666 484	12 418	2 146	106 658
Ecuador	275	21 056	870	212 736	458	135 126	4 436	79	29 636
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
French Guiana	5	617	5	1 206	4	1 336	--	--	--
Guyana	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Paraguay	172	4 968	680	50 636	220	21 007	688	--	16 696
Peru	192	19 905	471	209 064	401	215 856	24 008	437	144 690
Suriname	55	3 413	63	14 948	11	2 951	--	--	--
Uruguay	165	10 351	167	43 045	89	27 784	639	--	1 230
Venezuela	364	36 794	590	239 040	361	138 771	4 262	325	24 620
TOTAL AMERICA SOUTH	6 086	655 429	9 969	3 356 528	5 597	2 158 868	101 760	5 756	664 847
TOTAL AMÉRICA	14 322	1 042 096	23 121	7 198 309	9 126	3 603 740	470 542	62 413	1 144 073

CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ESTABISHMENTS IN 1995

ASIA MIDDLE EAST

Country	Pre-school establishments	Primary or elementary schools	Secondary schools	Higher education establishments and universities Students registered in universities
Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Students registered in higher education establishments	Ecclesiastical studies	Other
Afghanistan	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Cyprus	3	428	3	404	3	600	--	--	--
Iran (Islamic Rep. of)	3	301	8	2 107	4	898	--	--	2 025
Iraq	--	--	--	--	--	--	482	--	--
Israel	59	11 464	51	12 844	37	11 481	--	259	3 000
Jordan	38	6 644	40	10 920	24	4 740	--	--	--
Lebanon	132	38 924	254	126 665	212	192 284	2 643	687	13 411
Syrian Arab Republic	44	5 658	21	9 194	7	2 340	--	--	--
Turkey	7	215	7	704	12	7 307	--	--	--
TOTAL ASIA MIDDLE‑EAST	286	63 634	384	162 838	299	219 650	3 125	946	18 436

CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1995

ASIA SOUTH EAST, FAR EAST

Country	Pre-school establishments	Primary or elementary schools	Secondary schools	Higher education establishments and universities Students registered in universities
Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Students registered in higher education establishments	Ecclesiastical studies	Other
Armenia	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Azerbaijan	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Bahrain	1	151	1	938	1	425	--	--	--
Bangladesh	52	4 476	424	49 905	53	28 473	1 600	--	494
Bhutan	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Brunei Darussalam	2	--	3	--	1	--	--	--	--
Cambodia	--	--	1	--	--	--	--	--	--
China, Mainland	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
China, Taiwan	216	29 310	10	8 022	36	81 822	2 750	108	28 935
Georgia	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Hong Kong	39	14 062	154	118 030	126	156 860	652	--	--
India	4 933	687 998	8 207	2 775 137	4 111	2 063 153	235 733	4 362	70 638
Indonésia	1 044	87 367	2 682	545 334	1 407	395 643	38 811	2 513	61 815
Japan	576	91 342	58	24 344	159	84 060	34 018	--	36 249
Kazakhstan	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Korea, Dem. People's Rep. of	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Korea, Republic of	210	23 537	6	4 732	63	70 134	7 283	14 341	10 696
Kuwait	2	910	2	2 618	2	1 517	541	--	--
Kyrgyzstan	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Lao Peoples Dem. Rep.	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Macau	22	8 578	30	21 488	18	11 145	154	112	--
Malaysia	90	11 947	186	90 638	90	102 002	--	--	--
Maldives	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Mongolia	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Myanmar	65	3 356	46	1 570	1	67	--	--	--
Nepal	1	68	6	3 200	6	2 507	449	--	--
Oman	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Pakistan	124	6 959	203	53 784	139	66750	1 416	55	--
Philippines	682	193 671	494	423 564	1 026	704 111	348 829	15 699	172 485
Qatar	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Russian Federation (in Asia)	--	--	2	--	--	--	--	--	--
Saudi Arabia	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Singapore	10	2 406	20	25 992	17	19 780	2 211	--	--
Sri Lanka	307	17 278	34	29 474	44	38 051	530	195	7 046
Tajikistan	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Thailand	155	68 066	183	180 610	140	79 102	--	242	15 224
Timor, East	8	647	114	9 407	46	7 076	290	--	--
Turkmenistan	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
United Arab Emirates	6	2 005	6	7 154	6	2 171	--	--
Uzbekistan	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
VietNam	110	9 232	15	792	--	--	--	--	--
Yemen	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
TOTAL ASIA SOUTH EAST, FAR EAST	8 655	1 263 366	12 887	4 376 733	7 492	3 914 849	675 267	37 627	403 582
TOTAL ASIA	8 941	1 327 000	13 271	4 539 571	7 791	4 134 499	678 392	38 573	422 018

CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1995

EUROPE

Country	Pre-school establishments	Primary or elementary schools	Secondary schools	Higher education establishments and universities Students registered in universities
Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Students registered in higher education establishments	Ecclesiastical studies	Other
Albania	1	100	1	446	1	100	52	--	--
Andorra	--	--	1	1 200	1	450	--	--	--
Austria	656	49 040	165	35 289	155	33 606	1 724	4 360	774
Belarus	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Belgium	1 658	224 157	2 221	398 526	1 112	533 823	85 144	89	66 132
Bosnia and Herzegovina	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Bulgaria	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Croatia	--	--	--	--	4	330	231	--	--
Czech Republic	21	871	15	2 095	31	7 087	293	855	--
Denmark	11	400	23	800	1	100	--	--	--
Estonia	1	20	1	18	--	--	--	--	--
Faeroe Islands	--	--	1	--	--	--	--	--	--
Finland	2	104	1	255	1	91	--	--	--
France	1 628	278 598	5 178	720 046	2 732	1 069 872	41 368	7 548	16 555
Germany	9 365	643 932	196	34 896	1 069	279 784	6 705	8 979	1 375
Gibraltar	1	75	1	177	--	--	--	--	--
Great Britain	270	11 652	2 133	480 310	514	356 362	9 724	140	1 672
Greece	5	207	12	3 628	10	4 974	--	--	--
Hungary	35	1 746	61	14 981	35	9 668	649	1 420	2 098
Iceland	1	87	1	148	--	--	--	--	--
Ireland	72	19 591	3 240	511 037	728	338 625	3 444	341	3 904
Italy	6 997	399 658	1 523	176 736	1 726	213 345	11 831	11 264	46 248
Latvia	1	138	1	108	1	60	250	--	--
Liechtenstein	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	10
Lithuania	1	--	6	607	10	3 664	--	310	--
Luxembourg	8	500	2	2 000	5	2 400	--	--	--
Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Rep.)	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Malta	46	1 841	31	8 977	18	6 593	522	--	--
Moldova, Republic of	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Monaco	2	255	4	647	1	707	--	--	--
Netherlands	80	12 920	685	107 694	158	70 000	--	--	--
Norway	2	90	3	545	2	290	--	--	--
Poland	158	7 422	257	114 156	171	80 057	9 605	23 995	675
Portugal	505	38 536	160	21 831	99	32 376	2 856	965	9 539
Romanie	14	764	1	96	14	1 485	505	913	270
Russian Fed. (in Europe)	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	350	--
San Marino	4	297	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Slovakia	3	120	84	20 334	38	7 655	156	--	413
Slovenia	4	222	--	--	3	756	--	547	--
Spain	2 068	207 458	2 431	948 822	1 454	400 282	18 270	7 253	67 482
Svalbard and Jan Mayen Is.	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Sweden	9	278	3	518	--	--	--	--	490
Switzerland	18	235	12	650	38	4 660	134	157	--
Ukraine	1	25	--	--	--	--	93	391	--
Yugoslavia	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
TOTAL EUROPE	23 648	1 901 339	18 454	3 607 573	10 132	3 459 202	193 556	69 877	217 637

CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1995

OCEANIA

Country	Pre-school establishments	Primary or elementary schools	Secondary schools	Higher education establishments and universities Students registered in universities
Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Students registered in higher education establishments	Ecclesiastical studies	Other
Australia	267	17 950	1 284	342 080	449	263 031	3 331	2 691	1 687
Canton and Enderbury Is.	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Cook Islands	2	49	2	319	1	201	--	--	--
Fiji	2	92	44	12 010	18	6 846	--	--	--
Guam	4	471	6	2 623	3	1 006	--	--	--
Kiribati	--	--	1	--	3	1 220	20	--	--
Marianas	2	175	2	496	1	155	--	--	--
Marshall Islands	--	--	6	1 125	2	245	--	--	--
Micronesia, Fed. S.	2	110	4	1 331	4	575	--	--	--
Nauru	--	--	--	240	1	240	--	--	--
New Caledonia	44	3 233	38	5 245	30	6 464	48	--	--
New Zealand	2	60	190	33 954	47	23 179	1 724	104	--
Niue	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Palau	1	28	1	262	1	175	--	--	--
Papua New Guinea	133	5 768	830	126 403	79	16 662	592	69	--
Polynesia, French	10	2 103	11	4 335	11	5 126	12	--	--
Samoa	6	202	7	2 977	8	2 493	--	--	--
Samoa, American	2	260	2	410	2	330	--	--	--
Solomon Islands	9	375	9	1 680	7	840	--	--	--
Tokelau Islands	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Tonga	--	--	--	--	6	2 350	--	--	--
Tuvalu Islands	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Vanuatu	56	1 200	53	6 400	8	900	--	--	--
Wake Island	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Wallis and Futuna Islands	11	1 800	19	2 197	8	1 250	--	--	--
TOTAL OCEANIA	553	33 876	2 509	544 087	689	333 288	5 727	2 864	1 687
TOTAL WORLD	54 900	4 950 531	85 043	25 245 900	33 349	13 232 434	1 361 367	177 807	1 809 186

CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1995

TOTAL WORLD

Country	Pre-school establishments	Primary or elementary schools	Secondary schools	Higher education establishments and universities Students registered in universities
Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Number	Pupils registered	Students registered in higher education establishments	Ecclesiastical studies	Other
TOTAL AFRICA	7 436	646 220	27 688	9 356 360	5 611	1 701 705	13 150	4 080	23 771
TOTAL AMERICA NORTH	6 145	234 274	8 238	2 234 608	1 610	855 122	342 908	47 351	364 559
TOTAL CENT. AMER. MAINLAND	1 480	110 067	3 067	883 878	1 431	428 866	19 719	8 611	75 169
TOTAL CENT. AMER. ANTILLES	611	42 326	1 847	723 295	488	160 884	6 155	695	39 498
TOTAL AMERICA SOUTH	6 886	655 429	9 969	3 356 528	5 597	2 158 868	101 760	5 756	664 847
TOTAL AMÉRIQUE	14 322	1 042 096	23 121	7 198 309	9 126	3 603 740	470 542	62 413	1 144 073
TOTAL ASIA MIDDLE‑EAST	286	63 634	384	162 838	299	219 650	3 125	946	18 436
TOTAL ASIA SOUTH‑EAST, FAR EAST	8 655	1 263 366	12 887	4 376 733	7 492	3 914 849	675 267	37 627	403 582
TOTAL ASIA	8 941	1 327 000	13 271	4 539 571	7 791	4 134 499	678 392	38 573	422 018
TOTAL EUROPE	23 648	1 901 339	18 454	3 607 573	10 132	3 459 202	193 556	69 877	217 637
TOTAL OCEANIA	553	33 876	2 509	544 087	689	332 288	5 727	2 864	1 687
TOTAL WORLD	54 900	4 950 531	85 043	25 245 900	33 349	13 232 434	1 361 367	177 807	1 809 186

2. Statistics relating to specific countries

60. The table below gives figures for Catholic primary and secondary schools in Australia, disaggregated according to the student's birthplace, religion and language spoken at home.

Australia

	Infants/Primary Catholic	Secondary Catholic	TOTAL
Aboriginal	5 580	2 574	8 154

Student's Birthplace	Infants/Primary Catholic	Secondary Catholic	TOTAL
Australia	305 381	215 716	521 097
United Kingdom	2 146	2 849	4 995
Ireland	634	863	1 497
New Zealand	1 479	1 559	3 038
North America	813	709	1 522
Italy	186	290	476
Malta	52	142	194
Former Yugoslavia	400	300	700
Poland	497	1 026	1 523
Other Eastern Europe & Former USSR	255	354	609
Netherlands	45	92	137
Germany	137	227	364
Other Europe NEI	605	923	1 528
Mauritius	186	412	598
North East Asia	2 181	3 918	6 099
Vietnam	880	2 470	3 350
Philippines	2 883	3 297	6 180
South East Asia	1 397	2 875	4 272
Lebanon	556	739	1 295
Middle East NEI & North Africa	933	1 032	1 965
Chile	367	633	1 000
Central America &. Sth America NEI	963	1 275	2 238
India	873	813	1 686
Sri Lanka & Other Southern Asia	803	858	1 661
Other	1 318	2 504	3 822
ID/At Sea/NEI/NS	6 539	4 102	10 641
Total	332 509	249 978	582 487

NEI: Not Elsewhere Indicated

ID: Inadequately Described

NS: Not Stated

Religion	Infants/Primary Catholic	Secondary Catholic	TOTAL
Religion	274 634	192 005	466 639
Western Catholic	1 527	1 458	2 985
Maronite Catholic	42	42	84
Ukrainian Catholic	141	147	288
Total Catholic	276 344	193 652	469 996
Anglican	13 526	14 757	28 283
Orthodox	6 585	5 661	12 246
Other Christian	11 824	13 000	24 824
Non-Christian	4 044	3 916	7 960
No Religion	11 808	11 522	23 330
NS/ID	8 939	7 211	16 150
TOTAL	333 070	249 719	582 789

Languages spoken at home	Infants/Primary Catholic	Secondary Catholic	TOTAL
Italian	9 271	9 079	18 350
Maltese	725	866	1 591
Vietnamese	5 361	4 184	9 545
Arabic (including Lebanese)	7 870	6 884	14 754
Spanish	3 345	3 449	6 794
Filipino	2 925	2 484	5 409
Croatian	1 921	2 030	3 951
Czech	78	81	159
Polish	2 072	1 820	3 892
Dutch	120	141	261
Australian Indigenous Languages	877	477	1 354
Chinese Languages	5 523	5 160	10 683
French	677	767	1 444
German	408	423	831
Portuguese	852	963	1 815
Hungarian	310	308	618
Greek	2 826	2 922	5 748
Slovene	39	63	102
Indonesian & Malay	415	830	1 245
Ukrainian	154	148	302
Oceania & Papuan Languages	833	889	1 722
Eastern European Languages NEI	1 129	1 223	2 352
Other European Languages NEI	75	60	135
Southern Asian Languages	1 552	1 068	2 620
SW Asian and Nth Affican Languages (Excluding Arabic)	556	517	1 073
Other Asian Languages	1 203	1 557	2 760
Other Languages NEI	168	141	309
English only	278 352	199 408	477 760
ID/non-verbal/NS	2 685	1 295	4 480
TOTAL	332 322	249 737	582 059

NEI: Not Elsewhere indicated

ID: Inadequately Described

NS: Not Stated

Canada

61. The following figures relate to Catholic schools in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Aboriginal
Ethnic and racial minorities:	not available
Linguistic minorities	not available
Religious minorities	95 000 (estimate)
Number of all students enrolled:	1 544 145

Catholic schools in the Holy Land

62. For four centuries, the Catholic Church in the Holy Land has shown a close interest in the peoples of the Holy Land - Christians, Moslems and Jews - by offering them possibilities to learn, acquire an education and consolidate their human and religious culture. In Palestine, a first school was opened at Bethlehem in 1598 and a second one at Nazareth in 1640, followed by many others from 1843 onwards. On the West Bank, the very first school of the Hashemite Emirate was inaugurated at Salt in 1866 by missionaries of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem as a result of a decision one on which the very life or death of a people living under Ottoman domination depended.

63. Today, the presence of the Catholic Church in the educational sphere is important in terms of numbers and much appreciated at the cultural level. Catholic schools are open to all religions and cultures; their aim is to form the individual personality as a whole.

64. Here we should explain that in using the commonly accepted term "Holy Land" we refer to the following three geopolitical regions: the State of Israel (Israel), the Autonomous Territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority (Palestine), and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Jordan). Four statistical tables relating to Catholic schools in these three regions are reproduced below.

65. The total population of the Holy Land (11 million) includes 280 000 Christians, 140 000 of whom are Catholics.

		Number of establishments	Number of students	Christians	Non- Christianss
Number	%	Number	%
Israel	Schools	39	19 910	13 144	66,0	6 766	34,0
	Children's homes	8	598	69	11,5	529	88,5
	Total	47	20 508	13 213	64,4	7 295	35,6
Palestine	Schools	39	15 752	7 212	45,8	8 540	54,2
	Children's homes	5	236	176	74,6	60	25,4
	University	1	2 058	609	29,6	1 449	70,4
	Total	45	18 046	7 997	46,2	10 049	53,8
Jordan	Schools	44	25 994	13 490	51,9	12 504	48,1
	Children's homes	1	26	23	88,5	3	11,5
	Total	45	26 020	13 513	51,9	12 507	48,1
Grand Total	Schools	123	63 714	34 455	54,1	29 259	45,9
	Children's homes	14	860	268	31,2	592	68,8
	Total	137	64 574	34 723	53,8	29 851	46,2

66.The "educational levels" table below shows the number of schools and of students between the ages of 6 and 15 in compulsory education or receiving vocational training.

		Israel	Palestine	Jordan	Total
Pre-school establishments (age 3-6)	EstablishmentsStudents	294 654	373 920	373 971	10312 545
Elementary schools (compulsory)(age 6-12)	EstablishmentsStudents	247 762	278 024	4014 739	9130 525
Junior secondary schools (age 12-16)	EstablishmentsStudents	225 115	242 875	305 462	7613 452
Senior secondary schools (age 16-18)	EstablishmentsStudents	162 201	171 032	131 647	464 880
Vocational schools	EstablishmentsStudents	4776	1137	2201	71 114
Universities	EstablishmentsStudents		12 058		12 058

67. The composition of the school population is influenced to a certain extent by the students' socio -geographical or socio -professional background.

	Locality	Schools	Students	Socio-professional background
Israël	Tel Aviv	3	1 668	White-collar/shopkeepers/diplomatic staff
	Haïfa	7	4 050	White-collar/shopkeepers/liberal professions
	Nazareth	13	7 491	Blue-collar/tourism/liberal professions
	Autres	24	7 299	Blue-collar
Palestine	Jérusalem	14	4 518	White-collar/tourism/liberal professions
	Bethléem	15	7 160	White-collar/tourism/liberal professions
	Ramallah	3	1 795	White-collar/liberal professions
	Autres	12	4 573	Blue-collar/peasants/shopkeepers
Jordanie	Amman	18	12 281	White-collar/liberal professions/blue-collar
	Zerka	6	2 992	White-collar/blue-collar
	Madaba	1	1 952	White-collar/liberal professions/shopkeepers
	Autres	19	8 795	.Peasants/white-collar

68. We also consider it worthwhile to indicate the dioceses to which the students belong.

	Schools	Total	Number of Christian pupils and students	Christians, per cent
Diocese of the Latin Patriarchate	40	18 696	11 677	62,5
Custody of the Holy Land	14	6 548	3 875	59,2
Religious	51	23 735	10 625	44,8
Bethlehem Univ.	1	2 058	609	29,6
Diocese of the Melchite Achbishopric of Galilee	10	4 067	2 686	66,0
Religious	3	2 163	1 877	86,8
Diocese of the Melchite Archbishopric of Jordan	9	3 000	1 022	34,1
Religious	3	2 852	1 353	47,4
Melchite Exarchate of Jerusalem	3	1 260	902	71,6
Maronite Archbishopric in Israel	1	23	19	82,6
Syrian Catholic Exarchate	1	58	35	60,3
Armenian Catholic Exarchate	114	43	37,7
TOTAL	137	64 574	34 723	53.8

69. Educational project of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land (ACOHL): in the past five years a commission of ACOHL has prepared a first draft of en educational project which has now been examined by the headmasters' conference and approved by the Assembly itself. In this educational project for Catholic schools, the Catholic Ordinaries, while taking due account of the particular features of the three countries forming the Holy Land, emphasize a number of common principles, namely:

(a) Development of the person by means of a sound human, scientific and cultural education aimed at the construction of society;

(b) A balanced Christian religious education in which faith is harmonized with the way of life;

(c) Collaboration with the family, primarily responsible for the child's education;

(d) Promotion of mutual respect and cooperation in a pluralistic society ;

(e) Training for responsible, conscious and loyal citizenship .

70. Activities of National Catholic Schools Bureaux : these Bureaux have organized various meetings, symposia and informal encounters for teachers in Israel, Palestine and Jordan. These events are a means of getting teachers to know each other, developing awareness of their role and mission as educators, and providing them with additional professional and scientific training. Other activities, such as meetings with other schools (Christian, Muslim or Jewish) aimed at promoting knowledge and respect of others, are under consideration.

71. Separate educational projects: several schools run by religious congregations have drawn up educational projects of their own which take account of the spirit and the charismatic powers of the religious family. The "Educational Projects" of Custody of the Holy Land, the teaching order of the Christian Brothers, the Religious of Nazareth and the Sisters of Saint Dorothy specially emphasize the following points:

(a) Doing one's work in a spirit of faithfulness to the Gospels;

(b) Primacy of the individual as the object of education;

(c) Equal rights of individuals (Christian, Muslim or Druze ) to receive the same education and instruction;

(d) Pre-eminence of religious and moral values: knowledge of one's own religion, consistency of religious beliefs with the way of life, sense of responsibility, honesty, loyalty, having the courage of one's convictions, generosity, making sacrifices for the good of others, peace, acceptance of religious and ethnic diversity;

(e) Primacy of the family's responsibility in educational matters.

Schools and pluralistic society

72. The Catholic Church has made an important choice: its schools must be open to all. Pluralism depends on the location of the school itself, e.g. whether it is located in an environment where the majority of people are Christian or Muslim, or where there are several Catholic schools. In Israel, Muslim pupils account for 35.6% of the student population of Catholic schools because the instruction is provided in Arabic; there are a few Jews at the Christian Brothers School of Jaffa -Tel Aviv, where instruction is provided in French, and at the Prophet Elias College, Ibillin (instruction in Arabic, Hebrew and English). At Gaza, where Christians account for 0.04% of the population, the Catholic school has 1 132 pupils, 86.6% of whom are Muslims. In Jordan, 48.1% of the 26 020 students attending Catholic schools are Muslims.

73. The chief motive behind this policy of openness is to enable the students gradually to acquire the habit of accepting the differences between themselves and others, to learn about divergencies between religions, to talk to each other and to respect one another despite some conflicting opinions, to become accustomed to living together in an atmosphere of mutual respect and love.

74. Oriental Semitic man has three great values: (a) Allah, Adonai , God: the religious dimension of life; (b) Al- malek , tribe, family, clan: the social dimension; and (c) Al- Watan , Eretz -Israel, the home country: the political dimension. Oriental man identifies his life with all three - religion, social life and politics.

75. Ever since the Catholic Church began to introduce the Catholic faith into the culture of the peoples of the Holy Land and to assume a place of its own in that culture, new generations have been discovering a new sense of belonging to their family, homeland and religion. Previously, the religious congregations in the Holy Land had adopted their language of origin as the teaching languages in their schools. Without wanting to do so, they had created a sense of uprootedness among Christians by inculcating in them the feeling that they were strangers in their own land and belonged to a different people from the Muslims or the Jews. Today, the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land lay particular stress on conveying a sense of belonging to new generations of young Christians:

(a) The Christian must be proud of his/her Arab-Christian culture;

(b) The Christian is Arab/Jewish or Israeli/Palestinian/Jordanian;

(c) The Christian is a citizen, not a resident foreigner;

(d) The Christian must collaborate in the construction of society and the preservation of its culture.

Declaration against discrimination

76. A lively sense of belonging to the same homeland is the best way to fight discrimination. Catholic schools are committed to promoting such feelings by providing religious education to Muslims as well as Christians; by sharing the joy of each other's feast days; by visiting each other's holy places; by participating in the other's sufferings, whatever their nature; by organizing visits of discovery and exchanges between Christian, Muslim and Jewish schools; by participating in regional cultural and sports contests; and by jointly preparing - Christians, Jews, Muslims and Druzes together - marches or demonstrations for peace and understanding among peoples of the same Semitic origin.

The contribution of the Pontifical Commission for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID)

77. The activities of PCID, designed to promote meetings and exchanges between religions, cultures and ethnic groups, take the form of messages on festive occasions, the holding of colloquia, the setting up of standing contact committees, visits and declarations.

1. Messages on major feast-days of other religions

78. Such messages not only assure the believers of other religions of the positive attitude of the Holy See authority responsible for relations with them; they also give Christians living alongside those other religions an opportunity to visit their friends who belong to them, thus strengthening existing links of friendship and creating new ones. Moreover, these messages always develop a theme which encourages reflection among their immediate addressees as well as among Christians. They always include exhortations to forgiveness, reconciliation, mutual acceptance, co-operation and bearing witness before non-believers.

(a) Message for the end of Ramadan ('Id Al- Fitr ) . This is the thirtieth consecutive year in which the Commission has sent a message to Muslims for the end of the month of Ramadan (month of fasting for Muslims, concluded by the "Feast of Breaking the Fast", 'Id al- Fitr ) . The message is signed by the Cardinal President of the PCID. In this connection it is significant to recall the 1995 message entitled Christians and Muslims: going further than tolerance (see annex 1, available for consultation in the Secretariat).

(b) Message to the Hindus. This message is sent to the Hindus on the occasion of the feast of Diwali . In 1996, the subject of the message was "Going beyond tolerance" (for annex 2, see the Secretariat).

(c) Message to Buddhists : This message is sent on the occasion of the feast of Vesakh . The theme of the last message was tolerance and respect of differences (for annex 3, see the Secretariat).

2. Colloquia

79. Colloquia are important features of interreligious dialogue. At the same time, they provide an occasion for meeting and getting to know one another, making friends and sharing experiences.

(a) The Royal Academy for Islamic Civilization Research - Al Alhaf Foundation (Amman, Jordan) is one of the important and assiduous partners in this endeavour . One of the five colloquia held with the members of the Academy was devoted to the subject of "Nationalism today: problems and challenges" (Amman, 18-20 January 1994). The participants considered the subject, both in history and in the present-day world, from the Christian and Muslim points of view. The final communique distinguishes between a natural and healthy love of one's country and "a destructive, chauvinist nationalism which seeks to exclude, demean and subjugate those who do not belong to one's nation". According to Christianity as well as Islam, "no nation or race or people is superior to any other in the sight of God. The human person will be judged before God according to faith and obedience". After a restatement of the positive values of a healthy nationalism, Christians and Muslims are exhorted "to condemn and oppose nationalistic impulses being turned into tools for dominating or destroying other nations or peoples, as can be seen happening in various regions of the world today".

(b) The World Islamic Call Society (Tripoli, Libya) is another of the Commission's partners. A seminar on "The Media and Presentation of Religion" was held in Tripoli in October 1993 (see annex 4). It was followed up by a Workshop on "Religion and the Media", which took place in Vienna in October 1994. The influence of the media on the image of other people or religions does not need to be emphasized. The final declaration of the Workshop is significant in this respect (see annex 5). A colloquium on the subject of "Harmony Among Believers of the Living Faiths. Christians and Muslims in S.E.Asia " was held at Pattaya (Thailand) from 1 to 5 August 1994 (annex 6).

3. Joint committees with international Islamic organizations and institutes

80. An Islamo -Catholic Liaison Committee was established in June 1995. Its object is to promote dialogue on topics of general interest and to exchange ideas on the situation of Christians and Muslims facing difficulties in countries with, respectively, a Christian and a Muslim majority. The Committee meets once a year or several times a year if necessary. Another joint committee has been established between PCID and Al Azhar , the most important institute in the Islamic world, but its statute is yet to be finalized.

4. Statements of position

81. The recrudescence of violence by Islamic extremists, especially against Christians, makes it easy to amalgamate violence with Islam. This encourages people to make unjust generalizations and feeds resentment against Muslims. In an interview on Vatican Radio on 27 May 1996 following the assassination of several Trappist monks in Algeria (see annex 7), Cardinal Arinze said: "We are sure that the majority of Muslims agree with what the Pope said on his visit to Tunisia: 'No one has the right kill in the name of God, no one has the right to inflict death on his brother.' We know that many Muslims have already expressed their firm refusal to interpret violence in religious terms or, worse still, to justify violence in the name of religion".

The contribution of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples

82. The Pontifical Council's contribution towards the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination within the meaning of the Convention consists in efforts to encourage ecclesiastical as well as civil structures to strive for the eradication of the causes which make millions of refugees leave their homes. These efforts take the form, in particular, of declarations and programmes of action developed at international meetings organized by the Council, such as:

(a) "The path of solidarity": seminar on refugees (Gregorian Pontifical University, 29 April 1993);

(b) Seminar on illegal migrants: appeal for the primacy of charity (Munich, 29 September - 1 October 1996);

(c) Two consultations on the pastoral care of refugees in Africa (Zambia, 1993, and Cote d'Ivoire, 1994);

(d) Two consultations on the pastoral care of migrants and refugees in Asia (Philippines, 1992 and 1996).

83. A basic document prepared by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants together with the Pontifical Council " Cor Unum" bears the title "Refugees, a challenge to solidarity" (1992). This document, already commented upon in the context of the United Nations and widely disseminated, expresses the Church's solicitude for persecuted ethnic groups and for victims of abuses of power. It stresses the responsibility of each country to "respect and ensure respect of the rights of refugees in the same way as it guarantees the rights of its own citizens".

84. Referring to the imbalances existing in the world of today, the document states: "The Church offers its love and its assistance to all refugees without distinction as to religion and race. It respects in each of them the inalienable dignity of the human person created in the image of God. Christians […] must demonstrate that when the dignity of the human person with all that it implies is given first place, the barriers created by injustice will begin to fall".

85. Referring to the primary responsibility of the local Church towards refugees, the Council states: "The local Church must respond to the demands of the Gospels by extending its help to refugees, without distinction, when they need it and when they are alone. Its task takes different forms - personal contacts, defence of the rights of individuals and groups, denunciation of the injustices which are at the root of the evil, […] education against xenophobia […] ".

86. The Council has also sought to promote the amendment of certain discriminatory policies found to exist within the European Union on the occasion of meetings of European Ministers for Migration. For example, at its latest meeting held in Warsaw from 16 to 18 June 1996, the Council adopted the suggestion of its group on migration policies "that States should examine their national laws with a view to the elimination of discriminatory provisions".

87. Pastoral care of Gypsies is another field in which the Council endeavours to induce society to overcome discriminatory feelings against brothers who are different (meeting held in Rome on 6-8 June 1995). Speaking on the occasion of the 4 th International Congress on Pastoral Care of Gypsies, the President, H.E. Monsignor Cheli , said: "The Church does not offer specific pastoral care to the poor. It does, on the other hand, offer specific pastoral care to persons who belong to different ethnic groups, languages and cultures, recognizing not only their right to exist but also their right to a living space and to respect within civil and religious society. That is the raison d'etre of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, among whom Gypsies are included".

Subparagraph C. Information

Vatican Radio

88. Vatican Radio (founded in 1931; daily broadcasting time, 54 hrs. 50 mins .; broadcasting networks, 5; regularly used languages, 37) constantly concerns itself with topics which form the subject of the Convention. These topics are covered from many different angles and on many occasions, especially in connection with the presentation of documents and statements emanating from the Holy Father (messages on the occasion of World Peace Day, addresses to the diplomatic corps and to international organizations, etc.). But the subject of racial discrimination has also been dealt with directly in news bulletins, reports and talks.

89. A list of the occasions on which the subject has been mentioned in the 2 p.m. news bulletin ( Radiogiornale ) will be found below. This is the main and most comprehensive news broadcast of the day, and its contents are also issued in print. Apart from news bulletins, Vatican Radio also deals with the subject in other ways; for example, a cycle of ten programmes on the subject of discrimination as treated in contemporary films was scheduled for broadcasting as part of the cultural and educational programme Orizzonti cristiani (Christian Horizons) in 1997. Issues of a more specific nature, such as anti-Semitism and its eradication or the problems of immigrant workers and discrimination against them, have been dealt with on numerous occasions in Vatican Radio's German-language and French-language programmes .

INFORMATION ITEMS CONCERNING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION INCLUDED

IN THE 2 P.M. RADIOGIORNALE

90. The search was based on the terms "racism", "anti-Semitism" and "intolerance".

Year: 1993

1 January International Year for the World's Indigenous People

3 " Human chain against anti-Semitism and xenophobia in Bonn

9 " Message of the Italian Bishops' Conference on the occasion of the annual Day for the development of dialogue between Jews and Christians

10 " Report of sermon at a Mass for Peace in Former Yugoslavia celebrated by the Pope at Assisi

14 " Lecture by Cardinal Willebrands on the dialogue between Jews and Christians

18 " Public demonstrations against racism in Germany

24 " Demonstrations against racism in Vienna

3 February Anti-racism campaign of Amnesty International

5 " Presentation of a European anti-racism plan to the Council of Europe

17 " Special issue on racism of the review Popoli e missioni

2 8 " Torchlight procession against racism organized by European trade unionists in Rome

15 March European forum on migrants

21 " International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

21 " Demonstrations in Belgium in connection with International Day against Racism

25 " The struggle against racism: a new subject taught in Australian schools

28 " Interview with Mgr. Tabet , Permanent Observer to the United Nations and the specialized agencies at Geneva

4 April Commemoration of Martin Luther King on the 25th anniversary of his death

7 " Introduction of an anti-racist telephone card in Germany

16 " The Pope's message to Polish Jews on the anniversary of the Rising of the Warsaw Ghetto

19 " International conference against racism organized in Australia by the United Nations and the Australian Government

6 June Demonstration against racism organized by the diocesan branch of Caritas in Rome

9 " Interview with Mgr. Di Liegro , director of the Rome branch of Caritas

14-25 " World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna

2 July The Pope addresses young members of the International Council of Christians and Jews

15 " Document of the bishops of the province of Campagna directed against racism

23 " Interview with Fernanda Contri , Italy's Minister for Social Affairs, on her Government' commitment to the struggle against racism

26 November Interview with Mgr. Cheli in connection with the Athens conference of European Ministers in charge of migration

4 December The Pope addresses a group of American bishops on a visit ad limina

5 " Videocassette against racism produced by UNHCR

6 " European conference to launch the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education

11 " Munich: meeting on migrations and racism organized by the European bishops

Year: 1994

21 January Presentation of Council of Europe campaign against racism and xenophobia

29 " European Union project for combating racism

2 March Seminar on racism and intolerance organized by the Council of Europe at Strasbourg; Cardinal Koenig opens the work of the seminar

11 " Resolution condemning racism adopted by United Nations Commission on Human Rights

20 " Demonstration against racism in London

21 " Note on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

7 April The Pope addresses representatives of American Jewry on the occasion of the anniversary of the Holocaust

8 " The Pope makes a speech at the end of a concert marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Holocaust

17 " Declaration against racism made by the bishops of England and Wales at the conclusion of their plenary assembly

25 " Interview with Patrick Quentin, general secretary of the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism

27 " Interview with the Archbishop of Johannesburg on apartheid in South Africa

12 May Launching of the "European Passport" initiative against racism

18 " Joint declaration against racism by representatives of various Christian confessions

5 June Declaration by bishops of the twelve member countries of the European Union

10 " Interview with Mgr. Dante Bernini

22 " Declaration by the Catholic and Protestant Churches of Switzerland

24 " Interview with Mgr. Luigi Di Liegro , director of the Roman Caritas

24 September Referendum in Switzerland against racism

12 October Statement by Mgr. Lebeaupin at a meeting of the CSCE

4 November Interview with Elio Toaff on anti-Semitism and the Judaeo -Christian dialogue

11 " Switzerland signs the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

23 " Colloquium in Milan on the topic of "Education after Auschwitz" with the participation of Cardinal Martini and Tullia Zevi

Year: 1995

25 January Declaration by German bishops and the Polish episcopal commission for dialogue with Judaism on the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz

26 " Interview with Cardinal Martini on the subject of the Holocaust

28 " Auschwitz appeal for tolerance and respect of human rights by representatives of 29 countries and Nobel prize-winners

29 " Angelus by Pope John-Paul II on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp

19 February Jewish-American organizations denounce the revival of anti-semitism in the United States

25 " Interview with Franco Passuello , president of ACLI, on the occasion of a demonstration against racism held in Rome

5 March 6 th meeting of Jews and Christians at Ferrara

21 " Interview with the journalist Ettore Masina on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

19 June Debate on racism

4 July Warsaw: departure of "anti-racist train"

8 " Interview with Franco Marziale , director of the European Youth Centre , on the campaign against racism launched by the Council of Europe

10 July European Youth Against Racism Week

22 " Interview with Franco Marziale on the conclusion of European Youth Against Racism Week

25 August Italian schools against racism

31 " A new subject, "anti-racism", introduced into the Italian secondary school syllabus

18 September UNICEF campaign in Italian secondary schools

26 " Joint declaration by Evangelical, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders in France

10 October Proposal by the United Nations for an international conference against intolerance

15 " Colloquium in Rome on human rights in Europe

19 " Solemn session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War

29 " Interview with Tullia Zevi

22 November Japan ratifies the International Convention against Racial Discrimination

Year: 1996

12 January USA: week against violence and racism

18 " Declaration of Italian bishops on the occasion of Judaeo -Christian Dialogue Day

12 March Youth against racism week

17 " Presentation of a book containing a survey on racism

19 " The Council of Europe and the struggle against racism

21 " International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: interview with Franco Marziale of the European Youth Centre

13 April Report of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on the rise of racism in Europe

19 " The European Parliament denounces the revival of racism in Europe

28 " Interview with Tullia Zevi on anti-Semitism and racism

23 August International youth meeting against racism

29 " European anti-racist meeting at Livorno

31 October United Nations report on racism

28 November European Monitoring Centre for Racism and Xenophobia established in Brussels

30 " The struggle against racism as one of the projects to be taken up at the Second World Youth Forum

18 December Pastoral letter of Australian bishops on the incompatibility of racial intolerance with Christian faith

22 " Bilateral meeting of delegations representing the Holy See and the Moscow Patriarchate ; subjects discussed include racism and religious intolerance.

Osservatore Romano

The Vatican's daily newspaper (founded in 1861, published in Italian with weekly editions for the following language areas: French (1949), English (1968), Spanish (1969), Portuguese (1970), German (1971) and Polish (1980)) has devoted topical items, extensive reportages and background articles to the subjects covered by the Convention. A list of 312 articles concerning racism, the treatment of refugees and interreligious dialogue appearing in the Italian edition, many of which were also published in other editions, is annexed.

III. INITIATIVES TAKEN BY THE HOLY SEE IN CONNECTION WITH ETHNIC CONFLICTS

A. The Balkans

92. In its conclusions adopted on 17 August 1993 (A/48/18), the Committee recommended, inter alia ( para . 304), that the State party should become more active in conflict prevention and resolution efforts, should undertake further measures to promote interreligious dialogue, especially in ethnic conflict situations displaying a religious component, and should try to exercise an ameliorating effect in that respect.

93. In this context, attention is drawn to the range of activities undertaken by the Holy Father and the Holy See to promote peace in the Balkans and in the region of the Great Lakes. Full documentation concerning action taken by the Holy See to promote peace in the Balkans will be found in the following documents attached to this report:

"La crisi jugoslava -Posizione ed azione della Santa Sede nel 1991-1994". Osservatore Romano , issue No. 18.

"L'action du Saint Siege dans le conflit bosniaque, 1993-1994". Osservatore Romano , issue No.25.

"L'engagement du Saint-Siege pour la paix dans les Balkans, 1994-1995". Osservatore Romano , issue No.33.

94. It will suffice here to recall that from the outset of the conflict in Bosnia the Holy See made incessant efforts to end it, placing special emphasis on the following lines of action:

(a) Denouncing the atrocities committed, especially so-called "ethnic cleansing";

(b) Distinguishing between the aggressors and the victims of aggression, while at the same time deploring the evil deeds committed by either side;

(c) Insisting upon the international community's duty to "disarm the aggressor" in order to save the victim populations and their religious and cultural heritage;

(d) Recalling the standards of international law which rule out the recognition of territorial conquests achieved by force;

(e) Supporting all humanitarian initiatives undertaken with a view to mitigating the sufferings caused by war;

(f) Backing the international community's efforts to establish an effective dialogue between the conflicting parties and to achieve a lasting peace.

95. In his appeals and addresses, especially those to the diplomatic corps and to the United Nations in New York on the occasion of his visit on 5 October 1995, the Holy Father recalled the fundamental principles to which reference must be made in peace negotiations. Without such reference, it is difficult to achieve more than a fragile and uncertain truce which, while it constitutes a first step towards peace, does not guarantee it.

96. Having in mind the reconstruction of the war-ravaged Balkan countries, the Pope and his collaborators have always endeavoured to ensure that useful lessons for the future are drawn from the bitter experiences of the past and, in particular, have stressed the need to:

(a) Resist the temptations of rivalry and mistrust;

(b) Respect the human rights of all persons, whatever group they belong to;

(c) Promote the return of refugees and displaced persons, avoiding arbitrary population removals based on ethnic criteria;

(d) Give greater attention to the dignity and rights of national minorities.

97. The peace process initiated by the Dayton Accords (21 November 1995) confronted the international community with new challenges arising from the duty to reconstruct a region torn apart by violence and suffering. The Church, for its part, wished to shoulder its responsibilities in this regard. In order to reflect upon this duty, the Holy Father convened in Rome on 17 October 1995 all the bishops from the countries directly involved in the conflict. Conscious of their mission as Pastors of the Mother Church, the bishops, united with the Pope who is responsible for the care of all local Churches, having attentively studied the situation, formulated the following questions:

(a) What acts of pardon and reconciliation to propose at the personal and community levels?

(b) How to promote a healthy patriotism in place of the destructive nationalism which has prevailed in the last few years?

(c) How to prevent the possible ill-effects of the reconstruction effort - lust for material goods, jealousy of the well-to-do, discouragement in face of the magnitude of tasks to be achieved?

(d) How to conduct a constructive dialogue with Orthodox Christians and Muslims with a view to carrying out specific projects?

98. During the meeting, the participants accepted a number of commitments for their future ministry as part of pastoral programmes for a new mission of evangelization on the eve of the third millennium. They undertook, in particular:

(a) To intensify the work of reconciliation between individuals and ethnic groups by inviting everyone to reject the myths of exacerbated nationalism and to cultivate a healthy love of their own country that will foster open-mindedness and conviviality;

(b) To teach everyone to practise Christian forgiveness so as to heal the wounds caused by ancient and recent hatreds;

(c) To launch new prayer initiatives in the hope of obtaining from the Lord the grace of conversion of hearts, an essential precondition for a genuine spiritual revival;

(d) To intensify the dialogue with Orthodox brothers at the local as well as the national and regional levels, showing readiness to meet their bishops in the spirit of fraternal charity and Christian action advocated in the recent encyclical " Ut unum sint ";

(e) To pursue contacts with Muslims in a spirit of mutual respect in order to ensure a worthy future for all;

(f) To devote special attention to refugees, whatever their origin, in the interests of reconstituting the social fabric in the diversity proper to each country and to the relationship between countries, the watchword being not so much to tolerate one's brother as to love him;

(g) To support the twinning of dioceses and parishes of the more favoured churches with less fortunate ones in the same regions, and to undertake without delay the reconstruction of places of worship destroyed by war, such actions being signs of hope and means of communion. With this purpose in view, the Holy Father has decided to set up a fund to be endowed with the royalties from his book Enter into Hope ;

(h) To promote greater awareness among the media, so that they may provide more objective information about the realities of life in their countries, and particularly the presence, trials and work of the Catholic Church;

( i ) To disseminate with greater accuracy the pontifical message and social doctrine of the Church, especially as regards the pernicious effects of nationalism and the obligation to respect the rights of minorities.

B. Rwanda

99. The actions taken by the Holy Father and the Holy See during the tragic events of the massacres and genocide in Rwanda were acknowledged by Mr. Denis Polisi , the Ambassador of Rwanda, in person when presenting his letters of credence, in the following terms: " … to thank you, Holy Father, on behalf of my Government and my people, for the tireless support you gave to the people of Rwanda during those tragic moments of massacre and genocide" (26 March 1995).

100. While we cannot retrace the full history of pontifical interventions in support of human rights, the democratic process and the Arusha negotiations over the past three years, we would like to mention here the most significant of the Pope's messages. When the massacres of Tutsis were taking place at Bugesera , the Holy Father was the first to make his voice heard (4 March 1992); and the same is true of the massacres at Kibuye-Gisenyi (22 February 1993 and 17 February 1994). In his addresses to the diplomatic corps, he invariably mentioned Rwanda. While the genocide was taking place, the Pope spoke of it every week; we refer, in particular, to the Message published in the earliest days of the massacres (and never, incidentally, disseminated in Rwanda) and the Angelus of 27 April and 15 May 1994, when His Holiness was the first eminent figure to speak publicly of "genocide".

101. As for the Arusha negotiations, the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ngurinzira , paid a visit to the Vatican (2-3 July 1992) on the eve of their commencement. The Holy Father followed the main stages of the negotiations and, at crucial moments, made public appeals such as that of 29 November 1993. On 21 June 1993, the Holy Father received the Prime Minister, Mr. Dismas Nsengiyaremye , who had come to Rome to thank him for the mission entrusted to Cardinal Etchegaray and to acquaint him with the contents of the Arusha Accords, then on the point of being concluded.

102. Intensive action was taken by the Cor Unum and Justice and Peace Pontifical Councils . Cor unum regularly sent humanitarian aid on behalf of the Holy Father, and after the September 1992 message to the Episcopal Conference on the Church's commitments in the cause of human rights, justice, peace and the ethnic problem, Cardinal Etchegaray made an important visit to Rwanda from 6 to 11 May 1993, concluding it with a message to the Rwandan people which attracted a great deal of attention. On that occasion the Cardinal made visits to the President of the Republic and to the Government, but he also met with representatives of human rights organizations and political parties and, in addition, travelled to Rubaya to meet leading members of the FPR. After the murder of the three bishops, the Cardinal returned to Rwanda in July 1994.

103. The local Church and the episcopate never missed an opportunity to make every possible material and human contribution. We must point out that many parishes and religious houses became places of asylum for thousands of refugees ( Nyamata-Rikina-Kibuye ); some hundreds of persons remained in the parish of Nyundo for more than a year. At the beginning of 1994, it was the turn of the parish of Gikondo and Nyamirambo in Kigali.

104. Numerous messages and pastoral letters were sent out by the episcopate. Extracts from five of the most important messages concerning Rwanda are reproduced below.

1. MESSAGE FROM THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF RWANDA FOR LENT 1992

Convert and believe in the Gospel (11 March 1992)

“A short while ago the Rwandans learned of their Government's decision to change over to multi-party rule. The Catholic church, for its part, has unreservedly expressed its satisfaction and given its support to this system. However, many Rwandans deplore the obstacles still being placed in the way of democratization. Certain party leaders are behaving in a markedly anti-democratic fashion. Why are they manoeuvring to reject any collaboration, any flexibility that could make the transitional government strong enough to carry out its priority tasks? It is clear that some people are promoting their ideologies and their special interests to the detriment of the general interest of the people. Let us remember the old adage: "Two persons working together are worth eight shooting at each other"! The developments taking place at the negotiations have not escaped your notice: the selfishness and stubbornness are there for all to see. If things go on like this, if no one is prepared to call himself into question, no government will last longer than twenty-four hours. The politicians must discern the true values, they must become convinced that the salvation of Rwanda in the present parlous situation lies in tolerance and solidarity. That is the essential precondition if hostilities are to be brought to a rapid close and a viable policy for the nation is to be adopted.

"As long as Hutus , Tutsis and Twas fail to understand each other and to accept one another on an equal footing in running the country and preserving the nation's heritage without any monopolization of power, Rwanda will never know peace. The present period of spiritual conversion ought to help us to change our attitudes and become truly new men in this respect. Any programme that bears within it the seeds of discord between Hutus and Tutsis will take Rwanda to the abyss and plunge it in permanent conflict. The only effective programme is one that will help Hutus and Tutsis to fraternize with one another and will facilitate the rehabilitation of everyone living in this country.

"We therefore call on all of you to become truly converted. Let every man, and in particular every Christian, root out the selfishness and exclusiveness within him, for such leanings lead to the discord and violence rife in this country today. The present divisions, whether of ethnic, political or regional origin, are caused by selfishness and the refusal to recognize the abilities and patriotism of others, to grant them the right to act in accordance with the same ideals as ourselves. It behoves us all to realize that Rwanda is at a crossroads. Its future is being forged today by specific actions of its children as they grapple with the problems of the hour. "In the period of transition we are living through, the one-party system is gradually being replaced by multi- party rule. This changeover must be skilfully negotiated. There must be a change of mentalities, and above all a change of heart. We must learn to live with everyone - those who do not share our political opinions as well as those who come from a different ethnic group or a different region. We exhort you insistently to practise forgiveness and reconciliation."

2. PASTORAL LETTER FROM THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF RWANDA FOR ADVENT 1993

" The path of peace: Truth, Justice, Charity"

" The conduct of the new Rwandan

"This war, which has lasted for nearly three years, must be a serious warning to us. In order that we may not, later, suffer misfortunes similar to or even worse than those of today, we must abandon everything that tears us apart or creates divisions between us. It is no secret that one of the reasons for our national tragedy is the desire to grab everything for the benefit of one region or one ethnic group. The inevitable consequences of this have been an unequal distribution of positions of power and contempt of human rights and human dignity. In order that peace and social concord may become established in the life of Rwandans, we must all firmly understand that this country belong to all of us. Seizing privileges and countenancing exclusion on ethnic or regional grounds belongs to another age. Rwandans! we are all equal before God and the Law, and we all have the same rights. Therefore no ethnic group or region or coterie has the right to monopolize the entire country, its economy or its administration. As we said earlier on, let us get it firmly into our heads that all persons deserve respect, consideration and observance of their rights regardless of their ethnic and regional origins."

3. PASTORAL LETTER OF THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF RWANDA FOR LENT 1993

Peace and reconciliation among Rwandans

"Dear Christians, there are many interrelated reasons for the current war and insecurity - too many for all of them to be mentioned here. Let us point only to the most important among them, so that the road to peace and reconciliation, so badly needed today, may become clearer in our minds. Let us stress the lack of unity at crucial moments in Rwanda's history, especially when there is a change of government or when appointments to leading posts in the administration are made. Let us also speak of the injustices, the ethnic and regional discriminations, that have often characterized power-sharing in our country. Finally, let us mention the breakdown of respect of the human person - a process which goes as far as shedding blood, often the blood of the innocent. "Although no one can rejoice in the misfortunes Rwanda is suffering, we may yet learn from them that peace is not possible without unity. Our ethnic groups and regions are Rwanda's wealth. They must not be a source of discord between us. Complementarity and mutual respect are the characteristics of living together. The hallmark of genuine peace is the acceptance of our neighbour as he is, acceptance of the contribution by which he can enrich us, even if his ethnic group, his region, his political party or indeed his religion are not the same as ours. "We aspire to peace, but we are reluctant to pay the price of peace, which is mutual respect, tolerance and sharing, even if this requires a measure of self-sacrifice. We want peace, but we cannot make up our minds to break with that within us which disdains peace. No one who lies, intrigues, quarrels and murders can build peace, because he himself lacks peace. If we remain passive while insecurity reigns all around us, we shall never achieve peace. Thus, for example, the Arusha negotiations, from which all Rwandans expect so much, are being paralysed by people jockeying for political posts. It is lamentable and deeply sad to see a few people promote their personal interests to the detriment of the cooperation and unity needed for the construction of peace.

"Dear Christians, it is high time to put an end to antagonisms of ethnic, regional or party origin. Only then will we Rwandans live together in harmony with a single goal - that of building our motherland. Above all, we must change our mentality and our way of conducting ourselves. As we have often pointed out before, although our nation is made up of three different ethnic components, we are all equal in terms of our rights. This must be reflected in the whole of social life, and especially in education, both private and State-funded, in the armed forces, and in the administration.

"Christians, let us be the first to give an example of national unity, let us defend the oppressed and denounce the killings, let us be a model to all Rwandans! Verily, for those who belong to Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, nor Hutu nor Tutsi nor Twa nor Mukiga nor Munyaduga , for we are all one in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3, 27-28).

"Dear fellow-citizens, you must be clear in your minds about where your true interests lie; you must refuse to lend your ears to those who want to involve you in violence and murder. Those who claim that the massacre of a particular ethnic group or persecutions in a region will bring peace and stability to Rwanda are deceiving you. You must stop increasing poverty and famine by wasting your time in useless street demonstrations instead of working for your families. To destroy public property built up with so much effort is to harm yourselves, for it is you, before anyone else, benefit from such property. Do not listen to the politician or party activist who presents a programme based on ethnic or regional enmity and division. His ambition is to destroy the country and to create violence. Rather, follow those who preach national concord: then every Rwandan will be able to live in safety in his motherland.

"Today, conflicts between political parties are one of the causes of insecurity. Let us say it again: everyone has the right to join the political party of his choice or to refuse to join any party. Therefor the fact of not belonging to the same party ought not to lead to quarrels or conflicts. Not to share the same ideas ought not to be a reason for fighting - on the contrary, it is a source of wealth for those of us who want to build our country in all its diversity, so that all Gods children may live in freedom and mutual respect. Party leaders should espouse this idea and inculcate it in all their followers. Thus the parties in which we place our hopes for the good management of our country will not become tools in the hands of enemies of the Rwanda's unity."

4. MESSAGE TO CHRISTIANS ON THE OCCASION OF CHRISTMAS

AND NEW YEAR

Love Thy Neighbour (21 December 1994)

" We have suffered a great trial; after so many disasters, Rwanda is still in a state of mourning and dire uncertainty. In recalling the tragic events of the recent past, we do not mean to twist the knife in the wound; rather, our intention is to draw a lesson from these misfortunes and to reprove them vigorously, so that our country may never again fall into such grave sinfulness.

"We all know that people have been killed, one after the other, simply on account of their ethnic origin, the region they came from, or their political opinions. Little children, old people and the sick have been killed without pity. Many Rwandans have been put to death, so that every Rwandan today has lost at least one member of his family. Some families have disappeared altogether.

"The dignity of the human individual has been violated. People have been ignominiously massacred on the doorstep of their homes, on the road and even outside the countray ; many have not received a burial. The survivors have undergone humiliations and torture of many kinds. People have behaved like savage beasts; they have boasted of their misdeeds; there are even some who refuse to stop the killing to this day.

"The sanctity of human life has been flouted. Under the pretext of rightful anger, certain people have arrogated to themselves the right to designate who is to be killed, allegedly in order to defend the country or to avenge other deaths. Yet they know God's commandment: "Thou shalt not kill" (Deuteronomy 5,17). Thus were ill-intentioned men given an opportunity to betray the unity of Rwanda's people. Persons with malevolent hearts have sown suspicion and calumny in e hearts of the people, creating resentment and a thirst for vengeance; some still refuse to cohabit in this country of ours that belongs to us all.

"Several factors have contributed to the deadlock in which our country finds itself today. While we cannot try to enumerate them all, we must not fail to denounce the two main causes which have nurtured the evil in Rwanda: the desire to get rich quick and the policy of monopolizing power.

"As a result of conspiracy, people have been killed together with their heirs so that others might seize their land, their houses, shops and vehicles. Those who covet things that are not the fruit of their own labours are the same as those who set populations, militias, armies and young people at loggerheads with one another until, in the end, they tear each other to pieces.

"In this country there are always some authorities and politicians who sow the evil seed of ethnic and regional segregation among our people; they imagine that this is the means to hoist themselves into power and to stay there. It is this that causes interminable strife and conflicts among the population: simple people who normally lead a peaceful existence next to each other, sharing the little they have got, are set at each other's throats by the competing interests of a few. As a result of such policies, the national army starts massacring people instead of watching over their safety. Such policies use lies, favouritism and corruption, nepotism and despotism, in order to blind those who ought to be the watchful eyes of society. The same policies prevent the young from living in concord with one another; they are responsible for an education stamped with mistrust and mutual suspicion. What will become of us if this situation becomes the hallmark of our society?

"Once again, we urge all those who have been ordained to conduct themselves in an exemplary manner; we tell them again that neither a bishop, nor a priest, nor a deacon, nor a friar, nor a nun may allow themselves to be won over by a group, whatever it may be, especially one founded upon ethnic and political segregation."

5. MESSAGE TO CHRISTIANS ON THE OCCASION OF CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR

"Let us build our Church" (15 December 1995)

"Dear brothers, the tragedy of genocide and the massacres in Rwanda have been extensively commented upon and written about.

"The followig causes are specially pinpointed:

Ethnic problems;

The jockeying for power and the desire to monopolize power which have concentrated wealth and know-how in the hands of a few small groups;

The poverty and ignorance of many people who unthinkingly fall for the lure of profit;

It is even being alleged that the Gospels have not been well preached, so that some Christians have participated in the genocide and the massacres.

"In this letter we do not propose to examine in detail the truthfulness and gravity of these assertions. That job should be entrusted to people who have time and competence in such areas as history and law. We enjoin those who will undertake this work to proceed with wisdom and perspicacity and to pursue no goal other than that of finding out the truth and making it known.

"We for our part believe that it is necessary to speak about the real problems behind the tragedy of Rwanda and to seek real solutions in the light of the Gospels. The fact that some people affirm that the Church has participated in the genocide and the massacres prompts us to undertake a serious investigation in order to establish what, in these allegation, is true and what is false or exaggerated.

"Let us recall first of all that the mission of the Church, the People of God in Rwanda, is to preach the Good News of love. The Church has never had another goal. Writings attesting to this are there for anyone to read. Thus anyone can find our the truth about the allegations being made by those who want to deceive him.

"Whoever teaches discord is in flagrant contradiction with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a Gospel of love which it is the mission of the Church to proclaim. St.Paul puts it this way: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1.8).

"Therefor let ourselves be neither abused nor discouraged by those who affirm that the Church has preached the ideology of genocide and massacres.

"Secondly, we remnd you that the Church is a community of believers led by men whom Christ himself has mandated. The Church may be held accountable for the teachings and actions of Church authorities only when its leaders act with a clear mandate from the Christian community. Acts committed individually or by one or several members of that community are the responsibility of their perpetrators alone; they are not imputable to the Church as a whole. Accordingly, anyone who affirms that the Church participated in the genocide and the massacres is playing a dirty game; the Church itself has been severely injured, for many of those killed were and are its sons and daughters."

105. So far as grass-roots activities are concerned, reflection groups on peace and reconciliation have been established and study seminars have been organized in a number of dioceses.

106. As regards the possible involvement of ecclesiastics in the genocide, we wish to reproduce here the following declaration made by the Holy Father in his Message to the Episcopal Conference dated 14 March 1996 which was transmitted by H.E. Mgr. Cordes , President of the Cor unum Pontifical Council:

"Brotherly love, which leads to forgiveness of all transgressions, does not invalidate human justice, which judges offences and condemns them. The path of peace and reconciliation presupposes respect of the human person, without which it is not possible to reconstruct what has been destroyed. Respect of the human individual is a precondition for truly fraternal dialogue. But justice and fairness for all those who have rights to defend are just as necessary. And it must be recognized that, from this point of view, the State is faced with a great and difficult challenge: it is the State's essential duty to render justice to all. I would like to add that in the matter of uncovering responsibilities for the tragedy which your country has undergone, justice and truth must go hand-in-hand. The Church as such cannot be held responsible for the transgressions of its members who have acted against the precepts of evangelical law; they will be called to account for their acts. All members of the Church who have sinned during the genocide must have the courage to bear the consequences of the acts they committed against God and against their neighbour .

"I enjoin all, bishops, priests, religious brothers and sisters and laity of different ethnic origins, to turn to God with a sincere heart, to forgive and be reconciled where it is necessary, consolidating unity among yourselves and working together on the mission of Christ and nothing else. The Universal Church is with you in the present trial, it continues to support you with its prayers, with the presence of missionaries and by helping you to resume your pastoral activities. It also wishes to contribute through its charitable works towards meeting the material needs of the whole population, without distinction as to origin or religion."

107. At the political level, we draw attention to the activities of the "Churches Contact Committee" headed by the Bishop of Kabgay , Mgr. Thaddee Nsengiyuma . This body played an important role in the forming of the first coalition government (April 1992) and at crucial moments in the Arusha negotiations. The Committee held three meetings with the Patriotic Front in Nairobi in early 1992, at the Bujumbura Nunciature in March 1993, and at Mombassa (Kenya) shortly before the genocide. Mgr. Thaddee Nsengiyuma was also in contact with the "All African Churches" Association.