Archbishop: Vatican to try to influence UN meeting on fighting racism

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The only way to influence the results of the upcoming U.N. conference on fighting racism and discrimination is to be present and participate in the negotiations, said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, who will lead the Vatican delegation.

Israel, Canada and Italy had said they would boycott the April 20-24 conference in Geneva, and the United States, Australia and the European Union were threatening to join them if the conference's preparatory document continued to single out Israel and criticize its treatment of the Palestinians. A new draft, circulated March 17, has no specific references to Israel. In response to other threats of boycott, the draft also now has no references to discrimination based on sexual orientation and to criticism of religious leaders and figures, which some Muslim leaders wanted the conference to define as a violation of human rights. Archbishop Tomasi, the Vatican representative to U.N. agencies in Geneva, told Catholic News Service in Rome March 18 that the fact the preparatory document has been rewritten should guarantee greater participation.