UN General Assembly
1965

31. We are glad and grateful that Pope Paul is so devoutly dedicated to the pursuit of the grand initiative taken by his great predecessor in office in his memorable Pacem in Terris. Pope John broke with his Church's tradition in a number of ways. In coming to New York to address us, Pope Paul was also breaking with tradition, for no head of his Church had done that before. If the world is to be saved from destroying itself, we must all be ready to break with tradition: with traditions of pugnacity and of "my country, right or wrong". We must recognize that no country, great of small, knows all the answers or has the right, in the name of principle or ideology, to insist that others must accept its views. Nigeria believes in the sovereignty of all nations, but Nigeria also believes in the interdependence of sovereign nations.