KYOTO, Japan, MARCH 26, 2003 (Zenit.org).- At the 3rd World Water Forum, the Holy See expressed its interest and ethical and religious point of view on water, a key element for the full development of human beings.
Archbishop Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, presented the Vatican’s Note to the forum, which ended here Sunday.
The Vatican Note, entitled “Water, an Essential Element for Life,” first listed “some of the fundamental moral principles related to the question of water,” and then addressed “key problems which governments and the international community have to face today at the social, economic, political and environmental level.”
“In the final section, after having acknowledged the importance water holds within religious traditions, the Note considers in some detail the right to water because of the growing importance that the efforts towards its full recognition are assuming in the public debate,” Archbishop Martino explained when presenting the document Saturday.
“After the 3rd World Water Forum, and in the light of its conclusions, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace will deal with the topic of water in a more developed and detailed document,” he said.
“The topic is closely related to the message of the social doctrine of the Church concerning human promotion and is also an extremely urgent problem in today’s world,” the archbishop added.
The Note’s original text in English may be consulted in the Documents section of ZENIT’s Web page.
