Voicing opposite positions and irreconcilable ideologies is not truly dialogue, a Vatican representative told the United Nations. Rather, he said, true dialogue means exchanging and sharing wisdom.

He said that the "undeniable good that the United Nations Organization represents for the whole of humanity" could not have been expected without inter-governmental and societal dialogue.

"However, to be sincere and fully effective, this dialogue must really be dia-logos -- exchange of wisdom and shared wisdom," the archbishop clarified. "[...] To dialogue does not mean only to listen to the aspirations and interests of other parties and to try to find compromises," but it "must pass rapidly from exchange of words and the search for balance between opposite interests to a real sharing of wisdom for the common good."

Nevertheless, the Vatican official affirmed that the United Nations is of great interest to the Holy See, as it has become "an irreplaceable element in the life of peoples and in the search for a better future for all the inhabitants of the earth."

"In spite of the imperfection of its structures and of its functioning, the U.N. has attempted to contribute solutions to international problems of an economic, social, cultural and humanitarian character," said the prelate.

After speaking about progress on the Millennium Development Goals, Archbishop Mamberti focused on what he called the "fundamental national interest of all governments," that is, "the creation and maintenance of the conditions necessary to develop fully the integral good -- material and spiritual -- of each of the inhabitants of their nations."