United Nations: The Holy See has issued a stark warning against the growing global arms race, cautioning that continued reliance on nuclear deterrence and the militarization of emerging technologies could drive humanity towards catastrophe.
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations, delivered two major interventions at the United Nations on Friday, calling on governments to move urgently toward disarmament and to halt the dangerous trends fueling nuclear and technological escalation.
Speaking at the 14th UN Conference on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Archbishop Gallagher underscored that nearly three decades after the Holy See signed the treaty, it has yet to come into force. He described ratification as “an urgent and necessary step to avoid nuclear catastrophe.”
“The continued inability to bring this treaty into effect undermines global efforts against nuclear testing and raises questions of ethical responsibility,” he said.
The Vatican diplomat dismissed the logic of nuclear deterrence, calling it a “dangerous illusion.” Citing the humanitarian and ecological devastation caused by past tests and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he warned that modern rhetoric and military posturing risk normalizing annihilation as a strategic option.
“Peace cannot be secured through mutual fear or the threat of mass destruction,” he told the assembly, urging nations to break free from a cycle of intimidation that jeopardizes future generations and creation itself.
At a high-level UN event marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Archbishop Gallagher recalled the suffering inflicted since the first nuclear test in New Mexico in 1945. He stressed that nuclear weapons remain an existential threat, diverting vast resources away from human development and peace.
“The continuous expansion and modernization of nuclear arsenals, accompanied by increasingly belligerent rhetoric, perpetuates the illusion of security while humanity stands on the brink of catastrophe,” he warned.
Beyond nuclear weapons, the Holy See expressed alarm at the militarization of artificial intelligence. Gallagher cautioned that the integration of AI into space assets, missile defense systems, and other military technologies risked unleashing a new arms race with unpredictable consequences.
“The development of such systems undermines international stability and calls into question humanity’s ability to govern the tools it creates,” he said, urging urgent regulation and ethical oversight.
The Archbishop appealed for concrete steps to advance global disarmament, including:
The ratification of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Wider adherence to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
The entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Renewed bilateral arms control negotiations and new treaties covering fissile material and security guarantees.
“These measures are not optional but essential to prevent catastrophic humanitarian consequences,” Gallagher stressed.
Concluding his appeal, the Vatican envoy reaffirmed the Holy See’s commitment to a nuclear-free world and its moral responsibility to defend human dignity against the dangers of unchecked militarization.
“The massive diversion of resources to armaments, rather than efforts that promote integral human development and lasting peace, is unacceptable. The international community must renew its responsibility to ensure that humanity does not stumble into catastrophe of its own making,” Gallagher said.