(International review - December 1997: Audience to the Diplomatic Corps - 1/1)
In the World
AUDIENCE TO THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS
Appeal of the Prince and Grand Master
"Against the violations of Human Rights"
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Rome. Magistral Palace. H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master, Fra' Andrew Bertie, with the members of the Sovereign Council and the dignitaries of the Grand Magistry, listening to the speech of the Amb. of the Ivory Coast, Joseph Amichia, doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, during the solemn audience on 14th January. |
The representatives of around eighty countries met on 14th January in the Magistral Villa on the Aventine Hill in Rome for the traditional New Year's meeting with His Most Eminent Highness the Prince and Grand Master, Fra' Andrew Bertie. Responding to the greetings of the doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, the Ivory Coast Ambassador, Joseph Amichia, the Grand Master stressed first of all how much the Order has been able to do in the world with regards to its charitable vocation: the interventions in ex- Yugoslavia for the reconstruction of schools and hospitals, the busy aid programm for the populations of Rwanda and Zaire, the new volunteer corps set up in the east European countries, the assistance in Peru after the recent earthquake and the extension of hospitaller activities in the European Union countries.
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Rome. Magistral Palace. The members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Order during the solemn audience for the New Year's greetings to the H.M.E.H. the Prince and Grand Master. |
Referring to the Order's diplomatic action in its status as a Sovereign State, Fra' Andrew Bertie recalled its presence in the United Nations as Permanent Observer and its new diplomatic relations with Macedonia and the Republics of Equatorial Guinea and Cape Verde, as well as the signature of the 46th postal agreement between the Order and a sovereign State, this time with the Czech Republic.
He also made a heartfelt appeal to all govemments to prevent "the abominable violations of human rights which degrade western societies, such as the violence to minore and the other examples of unbridled materialism which we have witnessed in 1996," and to face "the incapacity of the multilateral co-operation bodies to alleviate misery and hunger in the world, "especially when", concluded the Grand Master, "considerable resources are being wasted in the consumer society, in drug trafficking and in the weapons trade."
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