Holy See: 'Nuclear deterrence is an illusion'

By Lisa Zengarini

Amid growing military expenditures and rising conflict around the globe, the Holy See has once again reiterated its urgent plea to reject nuclear deterrence which offers only an illusion of peace. “Rather than preventing conflict the availability of weapons encourages their use and increases their production”, create mistrust and divert resources, warned Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations.

A moral duty

In a statement addressed on Monday to the UN Disarmament Commission, the Vatican Nuncio reaffirmed that weapons proliferation, stockpiling and use make disarmament “a moral duty”, which calls upon “all members of the great family of nations, to move from an equilibrium of fear to an equilibrium of trust”,  the only basis, he said, upon which lasting peace can be achieved.

“The illusory logic of deterrence – Archbishop Caccia noted - is often used to justify the unjustifiable, that is the continued possession of nuclear arms, “any use of which would have catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences, which do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.“

He therefore reiterated the Holy See's call urging all States to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) thereby “contributing to the replacement of a negative conception of security with a positive one.”

The treaty,  which includes a comprehensive set of prohibitions on participating in any nuclear weapon activities, was adopted by 122 States in 2017

Need  for a legal framework for artificial intelligence

In his statement Archbishop Caccia also referred to the urgent need to develop a normative and operational framework regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

In this regard, he reiterated the Holy See’s proposal to consider the creation of an international agency on AI, while simultaneously urging the global community of nations to work together in order to adopt a binding international treaty that regulates the development and use of artificial intelligence in its many forms modelled on the TPNW.

Such a governance regime, he said, “can help ensure that emerging technologies serve humanity as a whole, rather than particular interests.”

Peace is not built  with weapons

Concluding Archbishop Caccia, renewed the Holy See’s unceasing “call for arms to be silenced”, and for the path of gradual but complete disarmament to be resolutely pursued insisting that “peace is built not with weapons, but through patient listening, dialogue and cooperation, which remain the only means worthy of the human person in resolving differences.”