"Today, water is considered an asset that must be specially protected and used according to reasonable criteria of solidarity and responsibility", states Benedict XVI in a message relayed today by the Vatican newsroom and sent through card. Renato Raffaele Martino to the visitors to the Zaragoza Expo on the occasion of the "Day of the Holy See" (14th July) about "Water and Sustainable Development". "The use of water which is considered a universal, inalienable right is related to the increasing and peremptory needs of destitute people", continues the Pontiff, mentioning what had already been stated by the Papal Council for "Justice and Peace" in the "Summary of the social doctrine of the Church" (no. 484), that "limited access to drinkable water affects the wellbeing of a huge number of people and often causes disease, suffering, conflicts, poverty and even death". As to the right to water, Benedict XVI highlighted that "it is a right based on the dignity of the human being" and added that one must carefully look at the positions of those people who consider and treat water merely as a commodity. (continued)
