NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The Vatican representative at the United Nations has reiterated the importance that the Holy See places on the role of the family in development of society.

      Archbishop Renato Martino, the permanent Vatican observer at the UN, emphasized family issues in an address to the General Assembly, which was discussing the general topic of social development. Archbishop Martino indicated that the other main priorities of the Holy See were the war on poverty and the defense of human rights.

      The Vatican delegate suggested that the defense of human rights entails respect for the family, and for the rights of parents. A strong family life, he observed, is "the best guarantee of social development for aged people, the young, the handicapped." The family, he said, is "the first defense against the world's upheavals."

      The urgency of his remarks took on added significance when it was announced in Santiago, Chile that for the first time since strong population control policies were launched in Latin America in the early 70s, the Latin American Center for Demographics (CELADE) admitted on Tuesday that at least some Latin American countries will soon face the problem of a declining population of young people.

      CELADE, a branch of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), said that life expectancy in Latin America has increased systematically since 1970, but during the same period of time, the birth rate has declined from 5 children per woman to less than three.

      "The region is definitively moving toward an aging population," said Jose Antonio Ocampo, president of CELADE, after issuing the document. "Therefore, Latin American governments will have to face new health and social security problems related to a larger, older population." The report added that if the population trend continues, the region's birth rate will be below 2 per woman by 2025 when experts concede that at least a birth rate of 2.5 is needed to ensure an stable population. The report said that the countries with the highest rate of aging are Cuba, Uruguay, and Argentina.

      Cuba, the only country in which abortion on demand is legal, has the lowest birth rate in the region, and by 2000, it will be the Latin American country with the smallest population of young people -- only 21 percent. Cuba is followed by Uruguay, with only 24.8 percent, and Argentina, with 27.7 percent.