Holy See defends rights of indigenous peoples at UN

By Christopher Wells

“Indigenous peoples, with their unique histories, cultures, spiritualities, and ancestral bonds to the land, form an indispensable part of the human family,” Archbishop Christophe El Kassis said on Wednesday. He insisted that the rights of Indigenous peoples “must respected, protected, and promoted as a matter of justice and of the common good.”

Speaking at the Third Committee of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on the topic of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer praised efforts to “acknowledge Indigenous Peoples as rights holders under international law.”

Archbishop El Kassis also noted the 20th anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people, which he said “affirms the right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination."

"Through this right", he added, "they can freely determine their political status and pursue their economic, social, and cultural development.”

He likewise highlighted the Declaration’s recognition of indigenous rights to traditional lands, territories, and resources, and the requirement that States consult indigenous peoples in good faith to obtain their informed consent for projects affecting those lands and resources.

Finally, the Permanent Observer noted indigenous people’s rights, upheld in the Declaration, “to maintain and strengthen their distinct institutions, cultures, languages, traditions and spiritualities, free from discrimination.”

Indigenous peoples, Archbishop El Kassis said, “are not objects of development policies, but subjects and protagonists of their own destinies. Their wisdom in living in harmony with creation offers vital lessons for the culture of care and for building a more just and fraternal world.”

Recalling Pope Leo XIV’s exhortation that indigenous peoples “must present their own human, cultural, and Christian wealth, courageously and freely” in “the assembly of nations,” Archbishop El Kassis said, “These words should guide the approach of the International Community: recognition of past wounds, commitment to reconciliation, and firm defence of the fundamental human rights and the God-given dignity of every human being.”