Extended diplomacy

adminonJanuary 14, 2022January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

St. Peter's Square at the Vatican © Ettore Ferrari

The Vatican and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania have agreed on an exchange of ambassadors. The West African country was one of the few states with which the Vatican had not previously maintained full diplomatic relations.

This was announced by the Holy See press office on Friday. Since 1973, there has been a papal delegate for Mauritania. U.S. Michael Banach, apostolic nuncio to Senegal, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, currently holds the position.

The Holy See currently has full diplomatic relations with 180 states. Only by a delegate, the pope is represented in Brunei, Burma, Laos, Somalia and Vietnam, as well as in countries and territories of the Arabian Peninsula, the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean. For China there is a diplomatic managing director who resides in Taiwan. The Vatican has no diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, Bhutan, North Korea, Oman, Tuvalu and Saudi Arabia.

Improved human rights situation in Mauritania

In Mauritania, 100 percent of the 3.7 million inhabitants officially belong to Sunni Islam, which is the state religion. The Pontifical Yearbook indicates for the country 4.000 Catholics. Mauritania's only diocese, headquartered in the capital Nouakchott, is led by 71-year-old Martin Albert Happe from Sendenhorst in Westphalia, Germany.

The human rights situation in Mauritania has improved since Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was elected president in 2009, according to international observers. Deficits remain, however, in the application of protection rights. Social problems result from the lingering effects of slavery, which was officially abolished in 1980, a high illiteracy rate, and widespread child labor. Criticism from human rights organizations continues to concern the situation of women and homosexuals.

Vatican liable for abuse by Catholic clergy worldwide, UN finds. The Vatican immediately denied this interpretation in a statement.

At the end of a regular review in Geneva on Friday, the UN Anti-Torture Committee ruled that a state's responsibility for the actions or omissions of public officials also extends to officials abroad. In its eight-page document, the committee praised the Vatican's dialogue as "open and constructive," but criticized it for submitting its first report on the implementation of the Convention against Torture nine years late. The Holy See had acceded to the Convention in 2002. The UN committee also viewed positively the alignment of criminal law in Vatican City State with international norms, as well as the establishment of an abuse commission by Pope Francis in December.

Disagreement remains between the Holy See and the UN over the scope of the convention. In the view of the Anti-Torture Committee, the agreement covers "all members of the public service or persons acting in an official capacity.". The rapporteur in the expert committee, Felice Gaer, had already pointed this out during the discussion with the Vatican delegation on 5 December. and 6. May pointed out in Geneva.

The Vatican, on the other hand, continued to maintain in its statement Friday that the convention's obligations extend to the 55-hectare Vatican City State and, more specifically, to employees of the Roman Curia, diplomatic personnel, Holy See institutions and judicial employees. It also questioned whether pedophilic acts fell under the definition of torture.

Overall, the Vatican sees itself confirmed in its line. The U.N. committee attested to the church leadership's "serious and substantial reforms" in line with the anti-torture convention, the statement said. It also recognizes the practice of compensating victims. The Vatican highlighted as welcome that its fight against abortion was not considered a violation of the convention, referring to the accusation that it was limiting women's rights through its position.

The UN committee's paper explicitly acknowledges the Vatican's criminal action against pedophile priests. For example, according to church figures, between 2004 and 2013, 848 clerics were transferred to lay status and 2.572 has been punished with other penalties. At the same time, however, the experts demanded concrete data on how often the judiciary of other states was called in. Already in the case of concrete allegations of abuse, a provisional suspension must take place. transfers of accused persons are to be monitored by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, all suspicious cases are to be reported to secular authorities as well.

Clear rules for judicial cooperation called for

The committee expressed concern about reports that church leaders failed to report sex crimes to secular authorities, moved assaulted clergy to other dioceses even more recently, or, in a 2013 case in Australia, refused to release documents to an abuse investigation commission. The Vatican must create clear rules for judicial cooperation and ensure that requests for cooperation are answered quickly, it said.

He said the child protection commission set up by Francis has so far lacked clear powers. It is also uncertain to what extent she will be able to publish the results of investigations, the committee said. The Vatican should create an independent complaints body with the possibility of cooperation from non-church authorities. With regard to compensation for victims, the UN panel criticized attempts to extract assets of dioceses or religious orders from the liability pool.

The next regular review is due in May 2018. By 23. In May 2015, the Vatican is to present an interim report on, among other things, the handling of abuse suspects and the ie of victim compensation.

Federal court says "no" to declaration of parentage © Uli Deck

Ingrid Lohmann wants to know who her father is © Ina Fassbender

Who is my father and who is my mother?? This question moves every person, but can not be answered clearly for every child. The Federal Constitutional Court has now ruled: The right to know one's own parentage is not absolute.

The question of one's own origins is one of the existential questions of human beings. Everyone wants to know: Where do I come from? Who am I? Where do I go? In this respect, it was a philosophical-ethical problem on which the First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday.

A woman, now of retirement age, is still wondering whether an almost 90-year-old man is her biological father. It wants to force him to take a DNA test. "No" says to it the senate under the direction of the vice-president of the court, Ferdinand Kirchhof, and refers to conflicting interests.

Several affected parties

The woman's claim is in principle beyond question, but others are also affected: Above all, the man whose paternity is to be clarified against his will. In his case, the Senate sees the right to informational self-determination and the right to physical integrity affected. In addition, the mother is affected, who can decide for herself whether and whom she informs about her sex life.

And two families are concerned: About the legal father of the child. In the child's self-image, the amption of being the biological father of a child "can occupy a key position," the Senate said. The family of the man who is to provide the DNA sample will also be affected. A positive test could "prove to be a burden". All these aspects are mentioned. Taken together, these considerations can be understood as strengthening legal families.

Court warns against investigation "into the blue"

According to the current legal situation, only the father, the mother and the child of a legal family have a claim against each other for a DNA test. A producer presumed outside the legal family is expressly excluded. The court warned against making investigations "in the blue" possible. The Senate leaves the clarification of further questions about parentage largely to the legislature.

The view therefore goes to Berlin. There, in the house of Federal Minister of Justice Heiko Maas (SPD), a "working group parentage" deals with such questions. As Maas' state secretary Stefanie Hubig said after the decision, it involves "difficult balancing ies" that are to be clarified by mid-2017.

"A serious setback"

Especially cases of "multiple parenthood", which are becoming more and more common today as a result of reproductive medicine, are likely to cause headaches for the lawyers. In relation to this, the case now being heard was almost simple. Nevertheless, even that one may not be over yet.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Paul Kreierhoff, announced that after careful consideration of the ruling, he will decide whether his client wants to go to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and appeal the "serious setback". At the hearing in November, representatives of psychologists' and therapists' associations made it clear that the woman's interest is understandable. For a child, the knowledge of one's own parentage is simply an existential question.

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