Multilateral foreign policy of the Holy See

The multilateral foreign policy of the Holy See is particularly active on some issues, such as human rights, disarmament, and economic and social development which are dealt with in international fora. 
==Right to life==
Both at the United Nations and at the various international conferences, the Holy See has promoted the "Culture of life," opposing efforts to legalize or endorse abortion and euthanasia through internationally legaly binding instruments or non-binding declarations, avocating for the abolition of death penalty at the global level, and seeking to ban research on human embryos. At the United Nations General Assembly, the Holy See stated that: 
===Human cloning===
At the international level, the Holy See has underlined the ethical problems raised by some current forms of biomedical research.Benedict XVI, Address to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, 7 Jan 2008: 
 The Holy See has been particularly active in the area of human cloning. In 2001, when Germany and France proposed at the United Nations General Assembly the adoption of an international convention to ban reproductive human cloning, the Holy See, together with a coalition of like-minded states that included Spain, Philippines, the United States, and Costa Rica, noted that such a convention would implicitly legitimize the cloning of human beings for research purposes,Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, the Views of the Holy See on Human Embryonic Cloning, 17 Jul 2003 para. 2:
 which is more serious from an ethical point of view than the reproductive one,for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Dignitas Personae on certain bioethical questions, 8 Sep 2008, para 30: and proposed banning all forms of human cloning.See generally UNGA Ad Hoc Committee on an international convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings The Holy See objected to the "production of millions of human embryos with the intention of destroying them as part of the process of using them for scientific research," and to the instrumentalization and victimization of women, specially of the poorest women, in the process of harvesting the necessary human eggs.Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, the Views of the Holy See on Human Embryonic Cloning, 17 Jul 2003, para.5. See also Statement of the Permanent Observer of the Holy See on Human Cloning, 30 Sep 2003 and Statement of the Permanent Observer of the Holy See on Human Cloning, 21 Oct 2004. These efforts lead to the successful adoption, in March 2005, of a United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning, which calls upon all member states of the UN "to prohibit all forms of human cloning inasmuch as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life."
===Death penalty===
In 2007, the Holy See argued at the United Nations that the death penalty should be used exceptionally, only when its use is necessary to protect society against an aggressor, a situation which is "practically non-existent" today, since societies have other ways of proteting their citizens. In addition, it noted that capital punishment is frequently discriminatory, since it is impopsed most ofter on the poorest and on members of religious, ethnic and racial minorities; and that it is irreversible, since it excludes all possibilities of recourse and restoration in the event of a miscarriage of justice.Statements of the Holy See on draft resolution A/C.3/62/L.29 “Moratorium on the use of the death penalty”, 62nd session of the UN General Assembly, 15 Nov 2007 Consequently, the Holy See worked for the adoption of a UN moratorium on the death penalty.At his Address to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See of 7 Jan 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said: 
==Sexual and reproductive rights==
Faced with a coordinated effort to incorporate sexual and reproductive rights within the body of the international recognized human rights,On the coordinated effort see: Center for Reproductive Rights, International Legal Program, Establishing International Reproductive Rights Norms: Theory for Change, US CONG. REC. 108th CONG. 1 Sess. E2534 E2547 (Rep. Smith) (Dec. 8, 2003): 
 
See also: Amnesty International, Defenders of Sexual and Reproductive Rights; International Women’s Health Coalition and the United Nations, Campaign for an Inter-American Convention on Sexual and Reproductive Rights , Abortion as a human right: possible strategies in unexplored territory. (Sexual Rights and Reproductive Rights), Women's Health Collection, (2003) and Shanthi Dairiam, Applying the CEDAW Convention for the recognition of women's health rights, Arrows For Change, (2002). the Holy See has become the major advocate at the international level of traditional sexual mores and marriage.
===Traditional family===
At the various international conferences, the Holy See argued that the traditional family, based on a stable and loving relationship between a man and a woman, is necessary for the responsible transmission and nurturing of new life. Consequently, society must recognize the traditional family's contribution to society's own good through appropriate cultural, fiscal and social policy. 
At the 1994 Cairo Conference, the Holy See argued that global population policy should ultimately be guided by the Respect for life and for the dignity of the human person so as to “foster the family based on marriage and must sustain parents, fathers and mothers, in their mutual and responsible decisions with regard to the procreation and education of children.” Holy See opening statement at the Cairo Conference, 7 Set 1994 Conversely, the Holy See has opposed “any attempts to weaken the family or to propose a radical redefining of its structure, such as assigning the status of family to other life-style forms.”Holy See opening statement at the Cairo Conference, 7 Set 1994 This position has been reiterated by Pope Benedict XVI, see, e.g. Benedict XVI, Address to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, 8 Jan 2007: 
===Sexual orientation===
In particular, the Holy See has opposed the use of the terms “Sexual orientation” and “Gender identity” in international human rights instruments, since, due to the fact that there is no agreed definition of those terms in international law, their use could favor of a redefinition of the family.Declaration of the Holy See on the proposed United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, 18 Dec 2008 In its view, the term gender, whenever used, should be understood as male and female as grounded on the biological sexual identity.Concluding statement of the Holy See at the Beijing Conference, 15 Set 1995 On these bases, in 2008, the Holy See opposed the adoption of a proposed declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity by the United Nations General Assembly. At the same time, the Holy See has condemned all forms of violence against homosexual persons and has called for the elimination of criminal penalties against them.Declaration of the Holy See on the proposed United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, 18 Dec 2008
===Responsible sexual behavior===
The Holy See condemned irresponsible sexual behavior, which, in its view, victimizes mostly women and children, and which is fostered by today's “attitudes of sexual permissiveness, which focus above all on personal pleasure and gratification.” Holy See opening statement at the Cairo Conference, 7 Set 1994 It has further argued that traditional sexual mores are the best way to prevent Sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS. As Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragán, “health minister“ of the Holy See stated at a UN special session on AIDS: 
 
In the same vein, during his 2009 trip to Africa, Pope Benedict XVI argued that the spread of AIDS “cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics: on the contrary, they increase it. The solution must have two elements: firstly, bringing out the human dimension of sexuality, that is to say a spiritual and human renewal that would bring with it a new way of behaving towards others, and secondly, true friendship offered above all to those who are suffering, a willingness to make sacrifices and to practise self-denial, to be alongside the suffering." Benedict XVI, Interview during his fight to Africa, 17 March 2009
===Family planning===
The Holy See underlined that responsible parenthood entails responsibility and demands discipline and self-restrain,Holy See opening statement at the Cairo Conference, 7 Set 1994 particularly in the area of sexual behavior. The Holy See opposed efforts to endorse Family planning methods which separate what, in its view, are the two essential dimensions of human sexuality: the transmission of life and the loving care of parents. At the Cairo Conference, the Holy See opposed the term family planning services which encompass sterilization, since it was often abused, especially when promoted among the poor or the illiterate.Holy See opening statement at the Cairo Conference, 7 Set 1994 At the conclusion of the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women, the Holy See reiterated that use of the term widest range of family planning services should not be interpreted as endorsing family planning methods or services that it considers morally unacceptable, that do not respect the liberty of spouses, human dignity or the human rights of those concerned.In particular, it could not be understood as endorsing contraception or the use of Condoms, either as a family planning measure or in HIV/AIDS prevention.Concluding statement of the Holy See at the Beijing Conference, 15 Set 1995
In addition, the Holy See argued the education of children and adolescents, including in the area of sexual behavior, is primordially the responsibility of their parents, and not of the State; and it urged the international community to guarantee the parents the full exercise of this rights and to assist them to carry out their responsibilities.Holy See opening statement at the Cairo Conference, 7 Set 1994
==See also==
*Activities of the Holy See within the United Nations system
*Foreign relations of the Holy See
*Legal status of the Holy See
==References==
Category:Holy See
Category:Foreign relations of the Holy See
Category:United Nations relations