"Concern for the child, even before birth, from the first moment of conception and then throughout the years of infancy and youth, is the primary and fundamental test of the relationship of one human being to another..."
"...No country on earth, no political system can think of its own future otherwise than through the image of these new generations that will receive from their parents the manifold heritage of values, duties and aspirations of the nation to which they belong and of the whole human family..."
"...I wish to express the joy that we all find in children, the springtime of life, the anticipation of the future history of each of our present earthly homelands..."
"...And so, what better wish can I express for every nation and the whole of mankind, and for all the children of the world than a better future in which respect for human rights will become a complete reality throughout the third millennium..."
Address of His Holiness John Paul II to the 34th General Assembly of the United NationsNew YorkTuesday, 2 October 1979, paragraph 21. Quoted also in Familiaris Consortio, 22 November 1981, paragraph 26.