clipped from: www.catholicnewsagency.com   

New York, Apr 18, 2008 / 10:59 am (CNA).- In a highly articulate speech on Friday, Pope Benedict XVI provided strong philosophical and moral arguments to make the point that human rights are inherent to human persons and not the fruit of an “agreement”. These rights, therefore, cannot be manipulated by ideological and pressure groups.

“was the outcome of a convergence of different religious and cultural traditions, all of them motivated by the common desire to place the human person at the heart of institutions, laws and the workings of society, and to consider the human person essential for the world of culture, religion and science.”

As the international discussion on human rights develops, the Pope noted that these rights “are increasingly being presented as the common language and the ethical substratum of international relations”.

Human rights, the Holy Father said, have their origin in “the natural law inscribed on human hearts and present in different cultures and civilizations.