The Patriarchate of Jerusalem is committed to upholding human rights within its Canonical, Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction to the extent that it is capable and strongly believes and desires to put emphasis on the fact that all human beings, no matter what social status they may or may not hold, must not be subjected to any form of torture or to cruel or inhuman treatment and that any persons resorting to the torture or cruel treatment of fellow human beings should be held accountable by the law of their respective countries.
One of the major purposes of a government should be to protect and secure the human rights of their own citizens, and governments who seriously violate these rights undermine the one reason that justifies their political power.
The Patriarchate of Jerusalem believes that any government committing such violations, in contradiction to international law, should therefore not be protected by international law and shall not receive blessing from the Holy See for any of its endeavours until such a time it has made correction to such violations and has proven that it again is worthy of being considered as a sovereign nation or government entity of any nature.
Furthermore, the Patriarchate strongly urges other nations with economic means to support international law and the ideals set forth within this document, even if such support must come by means of a military force to aide victims of oppressive government entities and to remove dictatorial rulers.
11 August 2004
15 September 2006
8 July 2024
