HOLY SEE RESERVATIONS AND STATEMENT OF INTERPRETATION

VATICAN CITY, NOV 16, 1996 (VIS) - Following is the text, made public today, of the Reservations and Statement of Interpretation submitted by the Holy See delegation to the World Food Summit:

"The Holy See joins the consensus on the final documents of the World Food Summit (Rome, 13-17 November, 1996) in conformity with its nature and mission, and with reference to Paragraph 12 of the 'World Food Summit Plan of Action,' wishes to express its understanding of some concepts and terms used in the said documents.

"1. The Holy See reiterates its reservations concerning the interpretation to be given to the term 'reproductive health services' expressed in the Report of the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 5-13 September, 1994).

"2. The Holy See reasserts that the stabilization of the world's population must not be achieved by national or international measures which deny the right of spouses to decide on procreation and the spacing of births.

"3. With reference to the terms 'family planning' and 'family planning services,' the consensus of the Holy See should in no way be interpreted as constituting a change in its well-known position concerning those family planning methods which the Church considers morally unacceptable, or concerning family planning services that do not respect the freedom of spouses, the human dignity or the human rights of those concerned.

"4. The Holy See understands the use of the term 'gender' in these documents according to its Statement of Interpretation which was included in the Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 4-15 September, 1995).

"5. With regard to all references to international agreements, declarations, resolutions and instruments mentioned in the documents of the Summit, the Holy See reserves its position in a manner consistent with its formal acceptance or non-acceptance of them or of any expression found in them, in their related mechanisms or procedures of control and with any reservations it may have expressed.

"6. The Holy See requests that these Reservations and Statement of Interpretation be included integrally in the definitive Report of the World Food Summit."
DELSS/RESERVATIONS:FOOD SUMMIT/FAO VIS 961118 (340)

av Webmaster publisert 31.03.2006, sist endret 31.03.2006 - 18:18