Military funds better used serving world’s poor, says Holy See

(Oct.13,2010) Money used for military endeavours could be used to help the world's poor and to promote authentic human development, affirmed Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt made this point on Monday in New York, when he addressed the First Committee of the U.N. General Assembly during a general debate on disarmament and international security. The archbishop noted that while 2010 offers some hope with regard to disarmament and arms control, it is overshadowed by threats to security and peace. Archbishop Chullikatt lamented that military expenditures were up 6% in 2009, and that from 2000 to 2009 they rose an astonishing 49%. He reflected that these figures, go against what is stated in the United Nations Charter, which seeks to promote security and peace not upon a balance of fear, but upon the full respect for the rights and the fundamental liberties of individuals and peoples.
Archbishop Chulikatt recalled Pope Paul VI's initiative made in India’s commercial capital of Bombay in 1964, to direct money destined for military purposes to a World Fund that would aid development programs. He noted that this project is still waiting to be realized. Yet all it requires is - states coming together in an expression of their good faith to contribute to international peace and security, he said. "The strategic reductions in nuclear arsenals are important steps," he added, "but they are insufficient if they are not pursued within the context of a general and effective disarmament conducted in good faith and at the multilateral and international level."