ROME – Pope Francis said Sunday that disarmament is not voluntary but a “moral obligation” for all countries.
Following the weekly Angelus address In St. Peter’s Square, the Pope recalled that March 5 was the second International Day of Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness.
“How many resources are wasted on military spending? Due to the current situation, military spending sadly continues to increase!” he told the estimated 20,000 tourists and pilgrims gathered in the square. Told.
Recruits are sworn in during a swearing-in ceremony for recruits of the Pontifical Swiss Guard on May 6, 2023 at the Vatican. (Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)
He continued to express his hope that “the international community will understand that disarmament is above all an obligation, and that disarmament is a moral obligation.”
“Let’s get this in our heads,” he added. “And this will require the courage of all members of our great family of nations to move from a balance of fear to a balance of trust.”
In the past, the Pope was suggested If people are really serious about world peace, he says, the solution is to “ban all weapons.”
The Catholic Church has for decades criticized the arms race and the resulting buildup of nuclear weapons, but Francis has become the first pope to call for a ban on all weapons. If we take him at his word, this would mean outlawing everything from rifles to hand grenades to the halberds carried by the Vatican’s Pontifical Swiss Guard.
Pope Francis walks past his Swiss Guard at the end of his audience with Senegalese President Macky Sall at the Vatican on November 18, 2014. (Andrew Medicini/Pool/AFP via Getty)
The existence of weapons has led humanity to live “in the fear of war,” the pope declared, and the only way to eliminate this fear is to abolish all weapons.
Francis is also the only pope in history declare not only that use Not just nuclear weapons, mere possessions “It’s immoral.”
“Trying to protect and ensure stability and peace through a false sense of security and a ‘balance of fear’ sustained by a spirit of fear and mistrust will inevitably deteriorate relations between peoples and undermine all forms of genuine dialogue.” ,” the Pope said. In 2022.
