AROUND THE WORLD

UN General Assembly Approves Vatican's Status

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution making it easier for the Vatican to participate in the world body's sessions, albeit without a vote.

The resolution adopted on July 1 by the UN essentially upgraded the Vatican's permanent observer status, giving the Holy See the same rights and privileges as other observers, such as the Palestinians, the Associated Press reported. Before the Vatican's strengthened status, it had to obtain permission from five regional groups at the UN before being able to enter debate, could not reply to criticisms of other nations or circulate documents with the General Assembly.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican's representative to the UN, described the Vatican's improved status as a blow to the efforts from some groups to oust the Vatican from the UN because of the church's anti-abortion stand.

Migliore, the Religion News Service reported, trumpeted the resolution as an "important step forward and reflects the lofty values and collective interests shared by the Holy See and the United Nations."

Spanish Government May Subsidize Mosques

The Spanish government is pushing a proposal to provide public financing to the nation's mosques in part to make them less reliant on militant groups.

The proposal announced by the Spanish Justice Ministry and reported in The New York Times in early August, would add to the nation's public financing of organized religion. Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, the justice minister, and his deputies have publicly said their intention is to treat all of Spain's major religions in similar fashion to its treatment of the Roman Catholic Church, which has received state funding for years.

According to the Times report, other government officials say the proposal is also being discussed as a way to keep outside religious extremist groups from supporting the nation's mosques. Spanish investigators, the newspaper reported, said the terrorists who blew up four trains in Madrid on March 11 attended mosques that had ties to a militant form of Islam.

Copyright Americans United for Separation of Church and State Sep 2004
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