1. At the closing of the Fourth General Conference of Latin American Bishops it is our duty to address this message to the United Nations Organization and to its institutions.

We do so with a sense of cordial respect and hope.

2. It is necessary to invigorate the culture of life against the culture of death that claims so many victims among our peoples. There will never be real progress, worthy of humankind, through the abuse of the human beings.

3. It is urgent that humanity be told, unequivocally: Let us respect the sacred gift of life! This clamoring comes, with renewed force, from the heart of our people, who 500 years ago received the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

4. His Holiness, Paul VI, in a speech before the United Nations Organization, recalled that the Church is "expert in humanity." We are only move by our interest to serve our people, in the midst of whom we dwell. We wish to mirror their feelings, their pain and anguish, in an attitude of dialogue in truth, recognizing the dignity of the human being, the image of God, which is the foundation of man's greatness and the very key to the future of the human family.

5. It is essential to keep a clear understanding of the urgency of the ethical dimension in order for authentic human progress to occur and "to safeguard the moral conditions for an authentic "human ecology"." (Centesimus Annus, n. 38). It is painful that the search for economic development causes the fountain of life to dry out, transforming our culture into a culture of death.

6. We are aware of the demographic problems that exist in some of our countries, but it is not licit to confront these problems by going against ethical principles. Systematic campaigns against birth organized by international organizations and governments, often under pressure, which go against the cultural and religious identity of our nations, cannot be tolerated.

7. His Holiness has reflected the sentiments of our people, whose dignity and liberty have been affronted, through these words that we make ours: "The Encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis denounced systematic anti-childbearing campaigns which, on the basis of a distorted view of the demographic problem and in a climate of "absolute lack of respect for the freedom of choice of the parties involved", often subject them "to intolerable pressures ... in order to force them to submit to this new form of oppression".(78) These policies are extending their field of action by the use of new techniques, to the point of poisoning the lives of millions of defenseless human beings, as if in a form of "chemical warfare"." (Centesimus Annus Encyclical, n. 39).

8. Finally, in this message calling for the defense of life, we deem it necessary to request with all our strength the promotion of policies in defense of the family. "The family is indeed sacred: it is the place in which life — the gift of God — can be properly welcomed and protected against the many attacks to which it is exposed, and can develop in accordance with what constitutes authentic human growth. In the face of the so-called culture of death, the family is the heart of the culture of life. The family is the real sanctuary of life." (Centesimus Annus Encyclical, n. 39).

9. There cannot be true peace and development if they are constructed to detriment to life.

10. All, especially the rich countries, must convert to an attitude of solidarity, of responsibility that avoids so much pain. His Holiness' voice still resounds as he pronounced his Inaugural Speech at this Conference, as an urgent call we all share: