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CAMPAIGN TO KICK HOLY SEE OUT OF U.N. GROWS
400 NGOs, Led by Catholics for a Free Choice, Seek Ouster

NEW YORK, JAN 21 (ZENIT).- Almost a year ago, a group of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) started a campaign to take away
the Holy See's right to a Permanent Observer in the U.N. Through
extensive media coverage, a web site ( http://www.seechange.org/ ), and
advertising, the campaign has grown to 400 organizations supporting the
move.

The campaign is being led by Frances Kissling, President of Catholics
for a Free Choice, an NGO dedicated to overturning Catholic teachings on
contraception and abortion. Last year, Kissling compared the Holy See in
the U.N. to "Euro-Disney sitting on the Security Council." He wondered
"why... an entity that is in essence 100 square acres of office space
and tourist attractions... with a citizenry that excludes women and
children have a place at the table where governments set policies
affecting the very survival of women and children."

Other members of the "See Change" campaign represent three main groups
-- pro-abortion groups, those in favor of population control, and groups
openly hostile to religion. Participants include the International
Planned Parenthood Federation, the Center for Reproductive Law and
Policy, Equality Now, Marie Stopes International, the National Abortion
Federation, the Feminist Majority, the Sierra Club,  Population Concern,
Center for Research on Population and Security, the American Humanist
Association, and Atheists United. The list includes groups from more
than a dozen countries.

Kissling says that her coalition is now ready to ask U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan to "review" the status of the Holy See, according to
a C-FAM press release. They say that the Holy See, by having Permanent
Observer status, is able to block various initiatives to expand women's
rights. She wants the Vatican downgraded to an NGO.

Over the years, the Holy See has become the principle voice against the
expansion of abortion in U.N. documents. In a loose-knit alliance with
South American and Muslim countries, it has also successfully blocked
efforts to expand the term "gender" to include homosexuality, and to
redefine the family to include homosexual couples.

C-FAM director Austin Ruse points out that the U.N.'s consensus policy
makes it possible for any small group of countries to stop the insertion
of objectionable language in the documents. However, most countries
depend on U.S. or European aid, and are easily forced into submission by
economic pressures. Since the Holy See does not receive foreign aid, it
is immune to such attacks.

Kissling wrote in an article in the "Legal Times" last summer that she
doesn't really believe her campaign will get the Holy See kicked out of
the U.N. Observers hypothesize that her efforts are really intended to
intimidate the Holy See delegation and distance its South American and
Middle East allies.
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