Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The universal declaration of human rights, which marks its 60th anniversary this year, was "a moment of fundamental importance in the maturation, on the part of humanity, of a moral conscience consistent with the dignity of the person." For this reason, the Vatican has announced a series of initiatives organized by the pontifical council for justice and peace, to be held on December 10, the day on which the declaration was adopted, including a commemorative act of reflection and study, and a concert attended by the pope.

Before the beginning of the concert, prizes will also be awarded by the Saint Matthew Foundation, in memory of Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân.

"The Church," Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, the president of the pontifical council who presented the initiatives of the Holy See, said today, "maintains that human rights should express the transcendent dignity of the person, a unique creature loved by God for its own sake, an end and never a means, and thinks that the universal declaration of human rights of 1948 was a moment of fundamental importance in the maturation, on the part of humanity, of a moral conscience consistent with the dignity of the person." Recalling the words of John Paul II, who called the declaration "a true milestone on the way of humanity's moral progress," the cardinal explained that "in this perspective, the Church has not failed to signal its own concern each time the theme of human rights has been tainted by exclusively procedural or legalistic interpretations, or when concrete practice has not respected its characteristics of universality, inviolability, and inalienableness."

"The Church has made its own contribution, both with reflection on human rights in the light of the Word of God and human reason - think of the consideration given to the topic by Blessed John XXIII in Pacem in Terris - and with its commitment of proclamation and denunciation that has made it a tireless defender of man and his rights over the past sixty years."

Benedict XVI, speaking this April 15 in front of the UN assembly, precisely in regard to the declaration emphasized how "this document was the outcome of a convergence of different religious and cultural traditions, all of them motivated by the common desire to place the human person at the heart of institutions, laws and the workings of society, and to consider the human person essential for the world of culture, religion and science. Human rights are increasingly being presented as the common language and the ethical substratum of international relations. At the same time, the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of human rights all serve as guarantees safeguarding human dignity . . . The life of the community, both domestically and internationally, clearly demonstrates that respect for rights, and the guarantees that follow from them, are measures of the common good . . . The merit of the Universal Declaration is that it has enabled different cultures, juridical expressions and institutional models to converge around a fundamental nucleus of values, and hence of rights."

Cardinal Martino has announced that the commemoration will be attended by the heads of the offices in the Roman curia, the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, world labor organization director general Juan Somavia, and Jacques Diouf, director general of the FAO.

The concert will be performed by the Brandenburrgisches Staatsorchester of Frankfurt, conducted by maestro Inma Shara, the first woman to take the podium at the Vatican.