"A world without nuclear weapons is not only possible, it has now become urgent," says the Vatican's representative to the United Nations. Archbishop Francis Chullikatt made this assertion Saturday, in Kansas City, USA, where he was invited by that diocesan Human Rights Office to give an overview of Church teaching on nuclear weapons. His address was part of a diocesan endeavour to educate the public on Church doctrine in this matter, efforts which responded to a proposed nuclear weapon parts plant in Kansas City. In his address the Prelate said that: "New attention is being paid to the unresolved problem of 20,000 nuclear weapons located at 111 sites in 14 countries. More than half the population of the world lives in a nuclear-armed country. Each year, nations spend $100 billion on maintaining and modernizing their nuclear arsenals.” He added: “The indiscriminate use and devastating effects of nuclear weapons have led the Church to abhor any use of nuclear weapons." The Holy See reiterated its position that deterrence was never accepted as a permanent measure and was tolerated only as "a step on the way towards progressive nuclear disarmament," he said. In the coming year’s message for the World Day of Peace, Pope Benedict XVI has reminded that "in a nuclear war there would be no victors, only victims." The Holy Father has also observed that the money wasted on maintaining and developing nuclear arsenals vastly outweighs that spent on assisting peoples. Archbishop Chullikatt went on to call for increased efforts in eliminating nuclear weapons. "This," he said, "is the challenge before the international community today. It is the challenge before the Church today, and it is the challenge facing all people of good will today, believers and non believers alike."
