VATICAN (SE): “As long as nuclear weapons exist, we cannot rule out the possibility of their use, which threatens ‘any possible future for our common home’ as well as humankind’s very existence,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, told the UN High-level Meeting to Commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, quoting Pope Francis.
Vatican News reported on September 27 that the cardinal called to mind the conflict in Ukraine, which has brought large-scale war back to Europe and triggered “the repugnant threat of the use of nuclear weapons,” the said this “illustrates just how close the world has come to the abyss of nuclear war.”
He described nuclear conflict as a “looming threat” and its devastating implications for all humanity as a “costly and dangerous liability, which undermines international security.”
The cardinal said Pope Francis’ call for the total elimination of nuclear weapons that is “both a challenge and a moral and humanitarian imperative.”
Cardinal Parolin urged states to work to achieve the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and launch negotiations “on treaties on fissile material and on negative security assurances ”and expressing concern for the terrible threat they pose to our very existence, he appealed for common action, Vatican News said.
