BBC News with Jonathan Wheatley

Pope Benedict has called on the international community to intervene within the legal framework of United Nations if governments fail to protect their people from human rights violations. He was speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, continuing his first visit to the United States. David Willey reports.

The Pope's visit to a synagogue was the first for him in North America, a gesture of friendship towards New York's influential Jewish community. Afterwards, he attended an interfaith meeting with leaders of other Christian denominations. Earlier at the UN, the Pope said that Saint Augustine, one of the earliest teachers of the Roman Catholic Church was the precursor of all modern systems of international justice. Without naming any specific countries, he critisized the way that a few powerful states exercise a strangle-hold on world power, and he insisted that collective action by the whole international community is the only way to solve the planet’s problems.