"I wish to express the joy that we all find in children, the springtime of life, the anticipation of the future history of each of our present earthly homelands. No country on earth, no political system can think of its own future otherwise than through the image of these new generations that will receive from their parents the manifold heritage of values, duties and aspirations of the nation to which they belong and of the whole human family. Concern for the child, even before birth, from the first moment of conception and then throughout the years of infancy and youth, is the primary and fundamental test of the relationship of one human being to another. And so, what better which can I express for every nation and the whole of mankind, and for all the children of the world than a betterfuture in which respect for human rights will become a complete reality throughout the third millennium which is drawing near. "
Excerp from an address to the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Pope John Paul II
2 Oct 1979