Hungarian Church Press, 1968 (20. évfolyam, 2. szám)
1968-06-01 / 2. szám
HOP Vol XX Special Number 1968 No 2- 134 (07915) UNO, and we agree with the statements in the section report to the effect that, in order to facilitate the better fulfillment of its role in the shap-’ ing of international life, certain structural changes should be made in its •Charter, including the membership and guaranteed rights of the Chinese People’s Republic in the United Nations* Organization« However, In view of the efforts and only partial success of the UNO to solve the Middle East problem, we call the attention of Christian churches to the fact that, in the interests of making the work of the UNO more effective, the structural changes mentioned on pages 37 and 38 of the section report have become so urgent that they suffer no further delay» Those responsible Christians who urge these struccural changes do not wish to weaken but rather to strengthen the role and work of the UNO. Par one must seriously face the eventuality that, if the UNO proves unable truly to express the will of the peoples of the world (it is already showing signs of this inability, in view of its Charter still reflecting the constellation of world politics in the year of its founding), then the role of the so-called regional or continental organizations will be enhanced to such an extent and progressively take upon themselves the task of defending certain interests, that they will become the manifestations and agents of antagonisms rather than to function as guarantees of international peace and security. We must take seriously the legitimate demand of the countries of the "Third World" that tic UNC he not only the battlefield of the conflicts between the two vor Id systems but also function as the forum on. which the views of the non-committed states are also given a proper hearing and the interests of the developing nations are also properly attended to. In order that the UNO may indeed play the right role in realizing the peaceful coexistence of nations it is absolutely indispensable that it truly refleot, in its charter and structure, the present international situation. j) The Task cf Developing An International Ethos Mention must be made, in this connection, of the recognition now quite generally accepted in the churches that the need has arisen in the present world situation for producing and formulating, even in the interests of peaceful coexistence, a universally binding int er rational ethoso We believe that the churches, if they want to make a serious and authentic contribution to this task, must bear in mind the following two considerations» First, it Vd.ll no longer suffice that they merely revise their traditional teaching about the "just war"; they must, in view of the. great problems of our age, rethink their whole ethical teachings This does not mean that they should subordinate the eternal ethical norms of the Gospel to the logics of the. present international situation, but the requirement is that, when they apply these eternal norms (the sum of which is the commandment to love our fellowmen), then they seek the "timely" imperative of those "eternal" norms and the topical guidance of them in the spe-
