disarmament

As a starting point, the pastoral letter released by Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in January serves as an invitation for serious conversations on the road to the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons.

Archbishop Wester made the comments in an Oct. 14 reflection on the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, “regarded as the closest that humanity has ever come to global nuclear annihilation,” he said.

This time around, as the 10th review conference on the treaty approaches, non-nuclear nations, the Holy See and nuclear disarmament advocates are pushing for a strong statement on steps to achieve reductions in nuclear arsenals.

The document, “Living in the Light of Christ’s Peace: A Conversation Toward Nuclear Disarmament,” challenges conventional political thinking that possessing nuclear weapons serves as a deterrence to potential attacks from other nuclear powers.

Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, Illinois, said in a Jan. 6 statement that the pledge from China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the U.S. “is an important acclamation of the need to prevent nuclear war and avoid arms races.”

This time around, as the 10th review conference on the treaty approaches, non-nuclear nations, the Holy See and nuclear disarmament advocates are pushing for a strong statement on steps to achieve reductions in nuclear arsenals.

Governments must pour more money into education and drastically reduce military spending for there to be genuine progress and peace in the world, Pope Francis said in his annual message for the World Day of Peace Jan. 1.

On Feb. 2, 2019, the U.S. announced its withdrawal from the INF treaty, followed by Russia a day later. The move has prompted concerns among disarmament advocates there could be a new arms race.