NEW YORK (CNS): The world seems to be “sleepwalking” down the path of nuclear weapons proliferation, increasing the risk of nuclear terrorism, the Vatican’s representative to the United Nations said.
The United Nations must foster greater international dialogue to ensure compliance with treaties restricting the proliferation of nuclear weapons and banning their testing, said the Vatican’s UN nuncio, Archbishop Celestino Migliore.
Without a firmer commitment to these treaties more states will arm themselves with nuclear weapons, increasing the possibility that such weapons will fall into terrorist hands, he said on October 5 in a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York.
The Vatican has observer status at the United Nations which means that it can speak at sessions but cannot vote.
The Vatican has repeatedly asked governments “which openly or secretly possess nuclear arms, or those planning to acquire them” to change their plans and “strive for a progressive and concerted nuclear disarmament”, the archbishop said.
Archbishop Migliore also asked for greater efforts to restrict the spread of small arms, saying that greater emphasis should be given to the “human dimension” of the destruction caused by these weapons, especially to children.
