Benedict to UN: Speaking on the Order of Things

(Ray Stubblebine/Reuters)
Tim Drake's Pope2008 blog reports on the Holy Father's speech to the United Nations General Assembly:

Speaking first in French, and then English, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the topic of "ordering" in his U.N. Address this morning. He began by talking about the U.N.'s international ordering, and then moved into the order of Creation.

"The United Nations embodies the aspiration for a 'greater degree of international ordering' (John Paul II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialist, 43), inspired and governed by the principle of subsidiarity, and therefore capable of harmonizing the day-to-day unfolding of the lives of people."

Later, he addressed another order.

"Here our thoughts turn also to the way the results of scientific research and technological advances have sometimes been applied. Notwithstanding the enormous benefits that humanity can gain, some instances of this represent a clear violation of the order of creation, to the point where not only is the sacred character of life contradicted, but the human person and the family are robbed of their natural identity."

He spoke of the importance of the family and the human dignity of every person.

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And he spoke of the need to safeguard the rights based on natural law found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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UPDATE
The Times of London reaches big time with this headline:

"Pope makes veiled attack on US over Iraq"

Were they watching the same speech I was? If there was some sort of "veiled attack" in his speech, the Holy Father did a real good job of hiding it.

In fact, EWTN contributor, former Boston Mayor, and former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Raymond Flynn, called Iraq "the 2-ton elephant in the room that the Holy Father didn't address".