Humanity Imperilled
Key Points of Landmark Speech by Archbishop Francis Chullikatt
Extracted by Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, July 2011
Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Apostolic Nuncio, is the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. Diplomatically, the Holy See acts and speaks on behalf of the entire Roman Catholic Church. On July 1, 2011, he gave a powerful speech in Kansas City, Missouri, site of a planned new facility to build the non-nuclear components of nuclear warheads. Entitled “The Nuclear Question: The Church’s Teachings and the Current State of Affairs,”
This landmark document is the most far-reaching statement a representative of the Holy See has ever made on nuclear disarmament. It deserves the widest distribution. You can read the full article here >
Among the many important points made by Archbishop Chullikatt are the following:
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Viewed from a legal, political, security and most of all - moral - perspective, there is no justification today for the continued maintenance of nuclear weapons. This is the moment to begin addressing in a systematic way the legal, political and technical requisites for a nuclear-weapons-free world. For this reason, preparatory work should begin as soon as possible on a convention or framework agreement leading to the phased elimination of nuclear weapons.
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It is becoming ever clearer that nuclear disarmament must be addressed from a comprehensive approach. … Only the expression of a visible intent to construct a global legal basis for the systematic elimination of all nuclear weapons will suffice. It cannot be considered morally sufficient to draw down the stocks of superfluous nuclear weapons while modernizing nuclear arsenals and investing vast sums to ensure their future production and maintenance. This current course will ensure the perpetuation of these weapons indefinitely.
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[T]he principle of good faith is vital within international law. Essentially, good faith means abiding by agreements in a manner true to their purposes and working sincerely and cooperatively through negotiations to attain agreed objectives. Therefore, the current modernization of nuclear forces and their technical infrastructure are contrary to such good faith because they make difficult or impossible a negotiated achievement of global nuclear disarmament.
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