There is growing support from individuals and groups for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. Over the years the calls for nuclear disarmament have waxed and waned but recently those against nuclear weapons have gotten unexpected support. The Catholic Church just came out strongly for ridding the world of nuclear weapons.
The Vatican sent a message from Pope Francis to the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons on Dec. 8. The message was delivered by Archbishop Silvio Tomasi, a representative of the Vatican at the United Nations. In the message, the Pope said, “Nuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction cannot be the basis for an ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence among peoples and states. The youth of today and tomorrow deserve far more…. Peace must be built on justice, socio-economic development, freedom, respect for fundamental human rights, the participation of all in public affairs and the building of trust between peoples.”
The Archbishop added to the Pope's message at a press conference. He said, "The consistent position of the Vatican has been against atomic weapons. From the very beginning, from John XXIII in ‘Pacem in Terris’ onward, there has been a consistent line opposing the use, the possession, the development of nuclear weapons. During the ’80s, especially during the cold war, the use of deterrence was accepted as a condition for avoiding worst results, but not as a value in itself."
The Archbishop went on to explain that while Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) might have had some logic in a polarized world during the Cold War when only the U.S. and the U.S.S.R had significant nuclear arsenals, today more nations have acquired them and the world is multi-polar with respect to international power. In this situation, MAD no longer represents a realistic or useful nuclear policy.
The Vatican also released a document at the conference titled “Nuclear Disarmament: Time for Abolition,” which was sort of an open letter to the U.N. and other interested parties. The document pointed out that the problems of nuclear weapons was not limited to the major nuclear powers but also involved non-nuclear states who have signed the non-proliferation treaty, other states who have not signed the treaty, state who possess but deny possession of nuclear weapons and states who are allied with nuclear powers. It went on to say that “Now more than ever the facts of technological and political interdependence cry out for an ethic of solidarity in which we work with one another for a less dangerous, morally responsible global future.”
In the document, the Vatican details some of things that could lead to a nuclear war such as nuclear accidents, failures of systems tasked with identifying nuclear attacks, malfunctions, terrorism and other possible causes. Finally the document points out that MAD has actually made the world less safe rather than more safe. There appears to be an incentive for nations which feel threatened to back out of non-proliferation agreements and create their own nuclear arsenals.
The U.S. is about to spend billions of dollars to "modernize" our nuclear forces. That money could certainly be put to better use on a host of national problems.
The Vatican:
