Address to the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs

ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II
TO H.E. MR KAMAL KHARRAZI
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN*

Thursday 12 February 2004

Your Excellency,

I am pleased to welcome you today to the Vatican. Your presence here is a sign of the cooperation that, for more than fifty years now, has marked the official relations between the Holy See and your country. I am confident that this spirit of collaboration will continue to grow ever stronger as we address issues of mutual concern to us.

Not least in this regard is the ongoing commitment to safeguard the inalienable rights and dignity of the human person, especially in efforts aimed at promoting greater understanding among peoples of different religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Mr Minister, I assure you of my good wishes for your stay in Rome and I invoke upon you the blessings of Almighty God.

*Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, vol. XXVI, 1 p.188.

L'Osservatore Romano 13.2.2004 p.4.

L'Osservatore Romano. Weekly Edition in English n.8 p.4.