US bishops are calling for world leaders to continue working towards nuclear disarmament after participants in the recent Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Review Conference (NPT) failed to reach a consensus on a final document.
In a statement on 8 September, Bishop David Molloy of Rockford (Chair of the US Bishops’ conference committee on international justice and peace) said “We lament the failure of the state-parties after four long weeks of negotiation to reach consensus on a final document.
“We advocate for the acceleration and strengthening of the implementation of the NPT and call on all state parties to recommit to dialogue and demonstrate progress toward the elimination of nuclear weapons everywhere,” Malloy said.
In a statement following this year’s conference, the United Nations blamed the Russian Federation for the lack of consensus. It was the only opposition to a summary document presented by conference president Gustavo Zlauvinel. Adoption of the document requires a consensus from all 191 member states.
Speaking at the meeting, the Russian Federation’s delegate argued that there was a “political dimension” in the summary document related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Specifically, five paragraphs that referred to the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia.
Pope Francis delivered a message to participants ahead of this year’s conference, imploring them to “move with determination from a perspective of competition to one of cooperation”. He further reminded them that “international peace and stability cannot be based on a false sense of security, on the threat of mutual destruction or total annihilation”.
On Thursday Francis raised the role of the Church in a world shaken by war and other global issues with his diplomatic representatives around the globe.
“Unfortunately, Europe and the entire world are shaken by a particularly serious war, due to the violation of international law, the risks of nuclear escalation, and the grave economic and social consequences,” the pope told almost 100 apostolic nuncios and permanent observers of the Holy See.
“It is a ‘piecemeal’ third world war, to which you bear witness in the places where you carry out your mission,” the pope told his representatives.
Pope Francis has repeatedly spoken of World War III during his pontificate.
In April, he wrote in an introduction to an Italian book that the world was moving toward World War III as if it were unavoidable, but that the war was not inevitable.
Sources