The Church is a companion on the journey towards an authentic international “community”, which has taken a specific direction with the founding of the United Nations Organization in 1945. The United Nations “has made a notable contribution to the promotion of respect for human dignity, the freedom of peoples and the requirements of development, thus preparing the cultural and institutional soil for the building of peace”.909John Paul II, Message for the 2004 World Day of Peace, 7: AAS 96 (2004), 118. In general, the Church's social doctrine views positively the role of intergovernmental organizations, especially those operating in specific sectors.910Cf. John XIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), 426, 439; John Paul II, Address to the 20th General Conference of FAO (12 November 1979), 6: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 26 November 1979, p. 6; John Paul II, Address to UNESCO (2 June 1980), 5, 8: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 23 June 1980, pp. 9-10; John Paul II, Address to the Council of Ministers of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) (30 November 1993), 3, 5: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 8 December 1993, pp. 1-2. However, it has reservations when they address problems incorrectly.911Cf. John Paul II, Message to Nafis Sadik, Secretary General of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (18 March 1994): AAS 87 (1995), 191-192; John Paul II, Message to Gertrude Mongella, Secretary General of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women (26 May 1995): L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 31 May 1995, p. 2. The Magisterium recommends that the activity of international agencies respond to human needs in social life and in areas of particular importance for the peaceful and ordered coexistence of nations and peoples.912Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 84: AAS 58 (1966), 1107-1108.
Concern for an ordered and peaceful coexistence within the human family prompts the Magisterium to insist on the need to establish “some universal public authority acknowledged as such by all and endowed with effective power to safeguard, on the behalf of all, security, regard for justice, and respect for rights”.913Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 82: AAS 58 (1966), 1105; cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 293; Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 78: AAS 59 (1967), 295. In the course of history, despite the changing viewpoints of the different eras, there has been a constant awareness of the need for a similar authority to respond to worldwide problems arising from the quest for the common good: it is essential that such an authority arise from mutual agreement and that it not be imposed, nor must it be understood as a kind of “global super-State”.914John Paul II, Message for the 2003 World Day of Peace, 6: AAS 95 (2003), 344. Political authority exercised at the level of the international community must be regulated by law, ordered to the common good and respectful of the principle of subsidiarity. “The public authority of the world community is not intended to limit the sphere of action of the public authority of the individual political community, much less to take its place. On the contrary, its purpose is to create, on a world basis, an environment in which the public authorities of each political community, their citizens and intermediate associations can carry out their tasks, fulfil their duties and exercise their rights with greater security”.915John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 294-295.
Because of the globalization of problems, it has become more urgent than ever to stimulate international political action that pursues the goals of peace and development through the adoption of coordinated measures.916Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 51-55 and 77-79: AAS 59 (1967), 282-284, 295-296. The Magisterium recognizes that the interdependence among men and nations takes on a moral dimension and is the determining factor for relations in the modern world in the economic, cultural, political and religious sense. In this context it is hoped that there will be a revision of international organizations, a process that “presupposes the overcoming of political rivalries and the renouncing of all desire to manipulate these organizations, which exist solely for the common good”,917John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 43: AAS 80 (1988), 575. for the purpose of achieving “a greater degree of international ordering”.918John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 43: AAS 80 (1988), 575; cf. John Paul II, Message for the 2004 World Day of Peace, 7: AAS 96 (2004), 118. In particular, intergovernmental structures must effectively perform their functions of control and guidance in the economic field because the attainment of the common good has become a goal that is beyond the reach of individual States, even if they are dominant in terms of power, wealth, and political strength.919Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 58: AAS 83 (1991), 863-864. International agencies must moreover guarantee the attainment of that equality which is the basis of the right of all to participate in the process of full development, duly respecting legitimate differences.920Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 33, 39: AAS 80 (1988), 557-559, 566-568.
The Magisterium positively evaluates the associations that have formed in civil society in order to shape public opinion in its awareness of the various aspects of international life, with particular attention paid to the respect of human rights, as seen in “the number of recently established private associations, some worldwide in membership, almost all of them devoted to monitoring with great care and commendable objectivity what is happening internationally in this sensitive field”.921John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 26: AAS 80 (1988), 544-547. Governments should feel encouraged by such commitments, which seek to put into practice the ideals underlying the international community, “particularly through the practical gestures of solidarity and peace made by the many individuals also involved in Non-Governmental Organizations and in Movements for human rights”.922John Paul II, Message for the 2004 World Day of Peace, 7: AAS 96 (2004), 118.