Vatican official confirms Church desire to abolish nuclear weapons

18 Sept. 2013: “Global security must not rest on nuclear weapons and the Holy See shares the thoughts and sentiments of all men and women of goodwill, who aspire to a total elimination of all nuclear weapons. The remarks were made by Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States at the 57th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency– IAEA at Vienna, Austria on Monday. Archbishop Dominique Mamberti commended the Agency’s work to “promote and strengthen a global nuclear-safety culture.” He praised efforts to harness the peaceful potential of atomic energy. Regarding nuclear weapons, however, the archbishop quoted the words of Blessed John XXIII, from his encyclical Pacem in Terris, saying that “justice, right reason, and the recognition of man’s dignity cry out insistently for a cessation to the arms race.” Still quoting John XXIII, he said simply: “Nuclear weapons must be banned.”
Archbishop Mamberti also told the international conference that the Holy See is particularly concerned about the volatile situation in the Middle East, and “restates its strong support for the efforts to establish a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction.”
Archbishop Mamberti said “My delegation would like to reiterate that the Holy See is firmly convinced that the present difficullties can and must be overcome through diplomatic channels.”
On Wednesday Archbishop Mamberti added a tweet to Vatican City’s tweeter account saying “Safety remains one of the greatest challenges in the use of nuclear power”
Source: Sedoc