Holy See says NPT must have a moral authority

(May 7, 2010) According to the Holy See, a strong moral commitment should lie at the heart of the world’s efforts to completely eliminate nuclear weapons in the world. “As long as nuclear weapons exist they will allow and even encourage proliferation and there will always be a risk that nuclear material produced for the peaceful use of energy will be turned into weapons, said Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See’s permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York. He made the point on Thursday while addressing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference currently in session May 3–28 at the UN headquarters in New York. He said that the effectiveness of our concerns and endeavours to put an end to nuclear proliferation needs to be supported by a strong moral authority. Moral authority comes first and foremost from respecting and delivering on promises and commitments. Archbishop Migliore read Pope Benedict’s message to the NPT conference saying, “The process towards a coordinated and secure nuclear disarmament is strictly connected to the full and rapid fulfilment of the relevant international commitments.” Pope Bendict had read the message during his general audience in the Vatican on Wednesday. He said, “ Peace, in fact, rests on trust and on respect for promises made, not merely on the equilibrium of forces.” Pope Bendict encouraged initiatives that seek progressive disarmament and the creation of zones free of nuclear weapons, with a view to their complete elimination from the planet.