New York: The Holy See has renewed its call for an end to nuclear testing, warning that its effects can continue across generations and urging the international community to work towards a world free of nuclear weapons.
Speaking at a United Nations high level plenary meeting marking the International Day Against Nuclear Tests on September 1, Monsignor Robert D. Murphy, Counselor and Chargé d'Affaires at the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, highlighted the lasting harm caused by nuclear tests.
Monsignor Murphy said the international community has a shared responsibility to protect present and future generations from the consequences of nuclear testing. He noted that Indigenous peoples and other affected communities, particularly women and children, continue to face physical, psychological, social and environmental effects.
More than 2,000 nuclear tests were conducted between 1945 and 2017 in 15 countries, according to a report by Norwegian People’s Aid. The tests were carried out both underground and in the atmosphere. Another report by the organisation said survivors have experienced higher rates of cancer, cardiovascular disease, congenital anomalies and trauma.
The consequences, Monsignor Murphy stressed, can extend beyond those directly exposed to the tests, affecting their children and grandchildren as well.
He argued that such suffering should strengthen the conviction that lasting peace cannot be achieved by developing increasingly destructive weapons.
The Holy See also expressed concern over renewed reliance on nuclear deterrence, increasingly aggressive nuclear rhetoric and efforts that could weaken the long standing international norm against nuclear testing.
Referring to Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, Monsignor Murphy reaffirmed the Holy See’s call for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to enter into force. He described this as an urgent priority and called for existing moratoria on nuclear testing to be respected.
He also praised the work of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, particularly its International Monitoring System and verification regime. According to Monsignor Murphy, these efforts demonstrate how science, technology and international cooperation can serve the common good.
The Holy See further reaffirmed its support for the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Monsignor Murphy said progress on these goals is essential to achieving a world without nuclear weapons and to establishing what he described as a just and lasting peace.
Marking the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, he called for greater reliance on dialogue and disarmament, with the dignity of every member of the human family at the centre of efforts to build a peaceful future.