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| INTERPOL’s newly elected President, Mireille Ballestrazzi, with Pope Benedict. |
Vatican City: The Vatican City State has welcomed police officials from
across the world with Pope Benedict XVI receiving delegates and INTERPOL
officials who attended the Organization’s 81st General Assembly in Rome.
Pope Benedict XVI received the visitors at a special
audience in his capacity as the head of state of one the world’s smallest
independent nations.
The secular visit also included interior and justice
ministers from some of INTERPOL’s 190 member countries who had earlier in the
week approved a joint declaration recognizing the need to identify viable
strategies to effectively address the changing modes of contemporary criminal
violence through greater shared intelligence and increased use of international
police tools and services.
Addressing the delegates, Pope Benedict XVI said violence of
any kind was unacceptable and commended the work of law enforcement officers
around the world.
“In this regard, the function of INTERPOL, which we may
define as a bastion of international security, enjoys an important place in the
realization of the common good, because a just society needs order and a
respect for the rule of law to achieve a peaceful and tranquil coexistence in
society.”
The Pope said that ‘the Holy See encourages all those working to combat this scourge of
violence and crime at a time when our world is increasingly becoming a global
village.’
“Thus it is necessary to safeguard individuals and
communities by a constant renewed determination and by adequate means,” added
Pope Benedict XVI.
Speaking on behalf of the world police body’s 190 member
countries, INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said: “Members of the
INTERPOL family may speak different languages, wear different uniforms and be
of different faiths or colours but we remain firmly bound together by our
shared commitment to respect and protect the dignity of persons, their
fundamental rights, and the rule of law.
“Police take great pride in their work because they know
they are making a difference: the difference between security and danger,
between order and chaos, between hope and despair, between health and happiness
and pain and suffering,” concluded the INTERPOL Chief.
INTERPOL’s 81st General Assembly (5 – 8 November), which was
launched with a Ministerial meeting, was attended by more than 1,000 delegates
from 171 member countries and addressed the challenges faced by the police in
tackling contemporary criminal violence.
The Vatican City State became INTERPOL’s 187th member
country in October 2008 at the 77th General Assembly in St Petersburg, Russia.