L’ONU, LA PACE E IL TERZO MONDO NELLA POLITICA INTERNAZIONALE DELLA SANTA SEDE

The essay traces the emergence, after World War II, a corporate Vatican position opposite to the Soviet Union, but not employed or flattened on the West, bringing a more theological than political visoon of the peace. The criticisms of the Church Pacellian to the UN were not few, though his judgment was not entirely negative, even in the face of an international context marked by the initial process of decolonization. Attitude Pacelli was followed by the opening of dialoguing John XXIII, who, without sagging, aimed at resolving the crisis and the preservation of peace, avoiding the conflicts . Roncalli and the Vatican II put the Church in a new international dimension, no longer limited to anticommunism, but in dialogue with all humanity, laying the foundations for addressing global challenges such as hunger, underdevelopment, economic imbalances North-South. This process of opening was brought to completion by Pope Paul VI, who emphasized the focus on international organizations, including the visit to the UN in 1965, which was the most effective witness. Presenting the Church as “expert in humanity”, the pope placed the Church on the side of the suffering people, praising and encouraging the role of the UN as a natural interlocutor on issues of peace and development.