THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release June 8, 1993

STATEMENT OF THE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

President Clinton designated Mayor Ray Flynn as Ambassador to the Holy See because he has the highest respect for the Mayor's ability as a powerful advocate on issues of conscience and social and economic justice throughout the world. The President has enormous admiration for Mayor Flynn's abilities and has the highest confidence that he will be a powerful and persuasive proponent of America's commitment to human rights and human dignity.

The international community is rallying to address famine in Africa, the ravages of war in the Balkans, and the scourge of poverty and AIDs and enduring abuses of human rights throughout the world. The Vatican, with its moral authority and its network of humanitarian organizations, is a crucial player in international efforts for peace and justice. The U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See has an important role to play.

The President has made the promotion of human rights and human dignity a cornerstone of our foreign policy. The President fully expects Ray Flynn to bring the ingenuity and vigor and determination he has brought to the crusade against hunger and poverty in the United States to his mission to the Vatican.

President Clinton has designated a close friend and a national figure in social justice as Ambassador to the Holy See to signal America's commitment to work closely with the Vatican and with others around the world to these issues.

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