Among the many questions before the international community, the Permanent Mission of the Holy See in Geneva strives to bring an ethical voice. Here are just three of the areas on which it has intervened in recent months on outer space, the ethics of organ transplantation, and the protection of places of worship in armed conflict; all gathered here as short conversations. Across all three runs one conviction: that the dignity of every human person must remain at the centre of how humanity governs its newest powers.
Outer space: a new frontier of the common good. Space is no longer the preserve of a few. It now sustains daily life on earth, even as debris, congestion and the risk of weaponisation grow. Drawing on the publication Outer Space and Humanity at a Crossroads launched together with the Caritas in Veritate Foundation, this conversation asks whether our ethics are keeping pace with our reach and proposes that space is not a lawless field of conquest but a common good, to be governed for the benefit of all humanity and of the generations to come.
The ethics of organ transplantation. The gift of an organ can save a life; it can also be made an object of trade. In this series, the Holy See sets out the conditions under which transplantation honours human dignity and the limits that protect it; from the sourcing of stem cells, to the trafficking of organs and persons, to the particular questions raised by the transplantation of reproductive organs and of the brain.
Protecting human dignity in organ transplantation
The Holy See and the fight against organ trafficking
The ethics of brain and reproductive organ transplantation
Protecting places of worship in time of conflict. A place of worship is rarely only a place of prayer; in war it is often also a place of shelter, assistance and refuge. Building on the Mission's event with the International Committee of the Red Cross on safeguarding sacred sites, this series considers the obligations of States and other parties under international humanitarian law, the humanitarian challenges facing communities of faith, and what the protection of these sites asks of the international community.
Protecting places of worship under IHL
States and their obligations under IHL
Humanitarian challenges facing people of faith in conflict zones
Protecting places of worship in conflict zones
Hear more from His Excellency Archbishop Ettore Balestrero ,Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See, in the conversations above. Follow the Mission's work at holyseegeneva.org.
