The Holy See has been an observer at the UN for 60 years

"Never again war! Never again war!" The first address by a pope to the UN General Assembly could hardly be more topical. Sixty years ago, the Vatican was granted observer status at the United Nations. Some time later, Paul VI (1963-1978) addressed the member states and the world public at the UN headquarters in New York with his appeal for peace.

The observer status, which the Holy See applied for on 21 March 1964, enables it to maintain a permanent observer mission at UN headquarters and its subsidiary organisations. He has access to documents and is allowed to attend most meetings. This allows it to exert diplomatic influence on UN members - even in the background. Among other things, the observer status saves the Vatican from having to co-decide on armed blue helmet missions for peacekeeping. The Lateran Treaties of 1929 impose far-reaching neutrality on it anyway. Current wars, for example in Ukraine, show that the Holy See also adopts this neutral position in order to keep itself in the dialogue as a peace mediator.

Already under Pius XII. Observer status with UN sub-organisations

The fact that he sought observer status and thus recognised the legitimacy of the UN was by no means a matter of course. In the post-war years - the founding years of the United Nations - the Catholic Church was led by Pius XII (1939-1958), a man who was hostile to one of the founding members: the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the Vatican still insisted on the special position of the Catholic Church among the world's religions; human rights and religious freedom were still foreign concepts to it. Nevertheless, under Pius XII, the Holy See already had observer status at some UN sub-organisations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Unesco. The situation changed under John XXIII (1958-1963), when the Vatican established its first contacts with the Eastern Bloc.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) brought significant church reforms, including the acceptance of other religions. One of the concerns of Council Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) was "to give the Holy See an audible voice in the international community, not just as a state among other states, but also as a humanitarian force beyond national categories", as church historian Jörg Ernesti notes.

Under the experienced diplomat Paul VI, the Vatican officially applied for permanent observer status on 21 March 1964 - with success. When the Pope appeared before the world's heads of state and government in New York on 4 October 1965, he presented himself less as a secular than as a religious and moral leader. He stood at the head of a very small state, he said. And yet he is the head of millions and millions of Catholics worldwide. And: "We are bearers of a message for all of humanity, and not just in our own name or in the name of the Catholic Church." The Church is an "expert in all things human".

Criticism of observer status

The Pope's statements can be interpreted to mean that the entire Catholic Church is represented at the United Nations via the Holy See. This makes it the only religious community to have such a status. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also has observer status - but only as an organisation and not as a subject of international law. This unique structure was criticised in the 1990s. At that time, some non-governmental organisations called for the Holy See to be stripped of its observer status because it did not speak for citizens, but for a religious community. The initiative was unsuccessful and the UN confirmed the observer status.

The Vatican has repeatedly clashed with UN organisations, especially when it comes to birth policies and abortion. The issue of child abuse is also a hot potato. In 2014, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child criticised the Vatican's sluggish approach to dealing with abuse. The Vatican rejected the report as interference.

When Paul VI shouted the words "Never again war!" to the UN General Assembly in 1965, the world was living in the Cold War. In Germany, people were dying at the Wall and barbed wire, and fears of nuclear war were rife. It was in this mood that the Pope stood before the world's leaders and said words that still apply today: "It is peace, peace that must guide the destiny of peoples and of all humanity".