Pope urges UN to face its responsibilities and calls for protection of rights of people in crisis in Darfur

Times of Oman January 1, 2006 prints AFP report saying Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called on the UN to live up to its responsibilities and promote justice, solidarity and peace in the world.

The world must show "courage and faith in God and mankind to choose the path of peace," said the head of the Roman Catholic Church in his first New Year's message from the Vatican. In his appeal the pope included "everybody -- individuals, peoples, international organizations and world powers".

The United Nations in particular "must again be aware of its responsibilities to promote the values of justice, solidarity and peace, in a world more and more marked by the huge phenomenon of globalization," he said at Saint Peter's Basilica.

In the message in which the pope traditionally focuses on the world's trouble spots, Benedict called for protection of the rights of people "experiencing tragic humanitarian crises, such as those in Darfur and other regions of central Africa."