The Vatican wants countries to get rid of nuclear weapons

Yesterday, the representative of the Holy See, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, took part in the second meeting of the UN states that signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2017. This agreement entered into force in 2021. It consists of a number of commitments that should ultimately lead to the absence of nuclear weapons and to cooperation in combating the medical and environmental consequences of their use. The agreement was ratified by fifty countries around the world, including the Vatican.

In his speech, Archbishop Caccia emphasized the Holy See’s appreciation for all efforts aimed at nuclear disarmament. He admitted that the process is slow in many ways, but it is worth not being discouraged in promoting it.

The Vatican representative also encouraged closer cooperation between signatory states of the treaty and UN agencies. He emphasized that in this way the goals can be achieved better, faster and on a larger scale.

Russia’s veiled threat

In recent months, Russia has sought ways to use its nuclear arsenal as a deterrent to Western support for Ukraine.

The Russian parliament recently deratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Moscow also conducted a “final test” of a new missile that Putin says has a potentially unlimited range. Russia has deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus and suspended its participation in the New Start Treaty, the last major arms control treaty still in force with the US. .

According to one expert, Russia understood that it would not win allies by relying on the threat of nuclear weapons. The deratification of the CTBT was thus “a kind of compromise between those who want to have a big stick and those who realize that this will be counterproductive.”