Pope Francis’s Progressive UN Speech Avoids Confronting Islamic Jihad

Pope Francis addressed the United Nations General Assembly on September 25th. He started out by praising the UN, which is observing its seventieth anniversary this year. He gave credit to the UN for such achievements he described as the “codification and development of international law, the establishment of international norms regarding human rights, advances in humanitarian law, the resolution of numerous conflicts, operations of peace-keeping and reconciliation, and any number of other accomplishments in every area of international activity and endeavour.” He said such achievements “are lights which help to dispel the darkness of the disorder caused by unrestrained ambitions and collective forms of selfishness.” After his introductory paragraphs of praise for the UN, Pope Francis then proceeded to challenge the world leaders and diplomats in attendance in the packed chamber. He called upon them to move beyond the "selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity,” which, the pope warned, “leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged.”