The concept of 'The Common Heritage of Mankind' in the Catholic social tradition

Abstract

In his message for the World Day of Peace, 1 January 1990, Pope John Paul 11 addressed the ecological issue from the ethical perspective of the common heritage of mankind. It is noteworthy that this new year's message was the first papal pronouncement which literally contains all the key notions in Ambassador Pardo's famous 1967 motion at the United Nations. Although there are some allusions to the common heritage principle scattered throughout recent church documents, none of these references is so direct and comprehensive as that contained in Pope John Paul I1's message for the 1990 World Day of Peace. In his statement of November 1967, Arvid Pardo suggested that the concept of the complon heritage incorporates the following characteristics: 1) non-appropriation of those resources which belong to the common heritage; 2) management of common resources on behalf of mankind; 3) sharing of benefits by all mankind; 4) use of resources for peaceful purposes only; and 5) conservation of resources for future generations.