Secretary-General: excerpts from statements by UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

• Position: Transcript

In introducing Pope John Paul II at the General Assembly, 5 October

The Holy Father's presence is a reminder of the spiritual dimension of the United Nations. The United Nations was created so that hope could conquer the horror of war. It was created so that compassion--the compassion which all religions share--could conquer the despair of poverty, disease and injustice.

Hope enables us to continue our mission, under the most adverse conditions. Faith enables us to continue the dialogue, to pursue negotiation, even when a situation seems desperate. Love enables us to continue development, to reach out to the less fortunate of our fellow human beings.

To the Conference of Goodwill and Development of Rotary International, New York, 12 October

The world's governments spent about $150 per human being on military expenditures in 1992. Total spending by the United Nations, by comparison, was less than $2 per human being. And now, even that very small amount cannot be maintained.

I ask you, community leaders and public-spirited citizens, to spread the word. The interests of each nation and of the United Nations are the same. The world Organization is your organization. The failure to support the League of Nations was a failure that haunted a generation. What happened to the League of Nations must not happen to the United Nations. As the philosopher Santayana said, those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.

One week ago today at the United Nations, Pope John Paul II addressed, as he said, "the whole family of peoples on the face of the earth". From the family as the smallest, most basic human unit to the immense family that is all humanity itself, the family and family values serve as an allegory for the vision of the United Nations.

For United Nations Day, New York, 24 October

Today, the peoples of the United Nations mark the fiftieth anniversary of the only truly universal organization in humanity's history.

Fifty years is a tiny drop in the stream of the centuries. But no other institution in history has gathered together so many political communities. No other has survived so many storms. No other has built such a promising foundation for the future as has the United Nations.

The peoples of the United Nations stand at a turning point in world affairs. On this anniversary we commemorate--and assess realistically--a half-century of United Nations existence. And on this day we are duty-bound to deliberate on...