Vatican's UN Rep can't sign Human Rights Statement?

[Morgaine]

I'm reading 'The Third Secret' by Steve Berry. Its placed at the Vatican & is a thriller/mystery.
One of the statements early on in the book states that the Vatican's UN Representative could not sign the UN Human Rights Statement because it guarantees Freedom of Religion & the Vatican does not recognize any religion but its own. The book is at work so I can't get the exact quote until tomorrow but this is pretty close to what the book states.

So, fact or fiction?

[lord_feldon]

I would have thought that it was because the Vatican is merely an observer at the UN and not an actual member.

[Silas Sparkhammer]

I may be wrong, but I *think* that the Catholic Church recognizes the right of freedom of religion, taking it as an aspect of Human Free Will. They would say, thus, that the Hindus and Muslims and Jews should be invited to convert, but should not be compelled, and that, meanwhile, any other form of compulsion -- such as Hindu to Islam, or to Soviet-style state atheism -- is odious. The Catholic Church no longer holds the "Divine Right of Kings" theory of church-state alliance.

I think.

Silas

[Admiraldinty]

Yes, the Catholic Church recognizes religious freedom. If you have the time, take a look at the declaration on religious freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, from Vatican II.

And, as Lord_feldon has stated, the Vatican cannot sign any UN declaration because it only has observer status and cannot vote.

The Vatican Website is always a good place to start looking for answers to questions like this, since they have most of their documents in English translation.