Addressing a meeting on international humanitarian law (IHL), a Vatican diplomat emphasized the importance of protecting civilians in armed conflicts.
“The Holy See wishes to recall that the protection of civilians from the effects of hostilities is not merely a means of giving concrete expression to the principle of distinction,” Archbishop Ettore Balestrero Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, said on November 3. “It also represents the
indispensable condition for safeguarding those minimum standards of humanity
which bind all parties without exception, and which no circumstance may justify
setting aside.”
The prelate also said that “a true and lasting peace” can “only be achieved through the renewal of the heart and mind. Education for peace is a crucial means to that
end.”
Archbishop Balestrero delivered his remarks in one of two statements he made at the meeting. In the other statement, he also called for the protection of houses of worship in wartime.