USCCB urges Catholics to lobby for dramatic reduction in nuclear weapons

(March 07, 2012) The Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, is urging Catholics to lobby for a dramatic reduction in nuclear weapons. “The Obama administration is currently weighing cuts in US nuclear forces,” a USCCB action alert stated. It said that within weeks, President Obama will be making important, once-in-a-decade decisions on the Presidential nuclear weapons policy guidance. The USCCB said that it was a good opportunity to make our voices heard by pressing President Obama to make good on his commitment to put an end to Cold War thinking and pursue further, dramatic steps that would make us all safer from the threat of nuclear weapons.
The USCCB asked Catholics to sign a petition asking President Obama to end outdated US nuclear war-fighting strategy, dramatically reduce the number of US nuclear weapons and the number of submarines, missiles and bombers that carry those weapons, and take US nuclear weapons off high alert. The petition must also state that maintaining large numbers of nuclear forces on alert, increases the risk of accident or miscalculation. The petition must clearly say that these steps will facilitate reductions in Russia's nuclear arsenal, encourage other nuclear-armed countries to join in reductions, and move us closer to a world free of nuclear weapons.