Back to top  Holy See H. E. Archbishop Celestino Migliore,
Chairperson of the Delegation  29 September 2008  Statement
Summary  CELESTINO MIGLIORE, Permanent Observer for the Holy
See, said the United Nations did not create events or trends,
but was rather a sounding board where events and trends were
submitted for debate and a coherent, consensual and timely
response.  The crises of the current year presented a mixture of
natural factors and elements of human responsibility.  However,
the crises had frequently been compounded by tardy responses and
a failure or reluctance by leaders to protect their
populations.  The responsibility to protect was the
responsibility of the international community to intervene in
situations where individual Governments were unwilling to assure
the protection of their own citizens.  During the past year,
there had been a growing consensus that the responsibility to
protect was a component of responsible leadership, he said. 
That principle was being distorted to promote militar