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Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the United States and the Russian Federation.

Originally proposed by President Ronald Reagan as a step to reduce the number of warheads and delivery systems (missiles and bombers) each nation could deploy, the U.S. and the Soviet Union signed the START in 1991, and it expired on December 5, 2009.

The new START treaty reduces deployed strategic warheads to 1,550,309 below the existing ceiling; limits the U.S. and Russia to no more than 700 delivery vehicles; and includes new verification requirements.

This new treaty is a relatively modest but important step toward reducing the number of nuclear weapons and advancing nuclear non-proliferation, with the ultimate goal of having a nuclear-free world.

Church rejects
Nuclear war is rejected in Church teaching because the use of nuclear weapons cannot insure noncombatant immunity, and their destructive potential and lingering radiation cannot be meaningfully proportionate. Pope Benedict XVI said in a January 2006 statement, "In a nuclear war there would be no victors, only victims."

While possession of a minimal nuclear capability may deter the use of nuclear weapons by others, the Church urges that nuclear deterrence be replaced with concrete measures of disarmament based on dialogue and multilateral negotiations.

In its nuclear policy, the U.S. should commit to never use nuclear weapons first and to reject use of nuclear weapons to deter non-nuclear threats. The U.S. and other nuclear powers must move away from reliance on nuclear weapons for their security. A global ban is more than a moral ideal; it should be a policy goal.

Hence, our U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has urged the administration and Congress to view arms control treaties not as ends in themselves, but as steps along the way to achieving the goal of a mutual, verifiable global ban on nuclear weapons.

Much deeper, more irreversible cuts, in both strategic and tactical weapons, are both possible and necessary. The Holy Father said on January 1, 2008: "It is truly necessary for all persons of good will to come together to reach concrete agreements aimed at an effective demilitarization, especially in the area of nuclear arms."

The START treaty requires ratification by the U.S. Senate. Ratification is central because verification ensures transparency, and these reductions in the number of weapons can set a stage for future reduction.

The new START treaty is also important to international efforts to reduce nuclear nonproliferation. With fewer nuclear weapons in the world, the likelihood of one falling into terrorist hands is reduced and countries are more likely to cooperate in enforcing non-proliferation commitments and safeguarding nuclear materials.

I hope the people of our Diocese will contact Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to advocate the adoption of this treaty. (For contact information, visit www.senate. gov or call the Capitol switchboard, 202-224-3121.)

CRBT vital
Another critical issue in moving toward a world free of nuclear arms is the passage of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Despite U.S. involvement in initiating negotiations for a test ban treaty, in 1999, the U.S. Senate failed to ratify the CTBT that would stop nuclear testing.

Some senators who voted "no" expressed concerns about the ability of the United States to maintain its arsenal in the absence of testing and others were concerned about verifying compliance with the treaty.

Prominent scientists have argued that the U.S. can safely maintain its nuclear arsenal without testing and that the ability of the international community to verify compliance is amply demonstrated by detections of tests in North Korea. The Obama administration supports ratification of this treaty that 151 other nations have ratified (including the United Kingdom, France, and Russia).

Originally, there was hope that the U.S. would ratify the CTBT before the Review Conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) later this month, but it will likely be next year.

In his January address to diplomats, Pope Benedict said, "I firmly hope that during the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference to be held this May in New York, concrete decisions will be made towards progressive disarmament, with a view toward freeing our planet from nuclear arms."

Morality
However, as people of faith, we not only have moral concerns about nuclear weapons, but about the use of military weapons as the primary means of addressing conflict between nations and within nations.

In his 2009 World Day of Peace Message, Pope Benedict warned that "immense military expenditures divest resources from development projects for peoples, especially the poorest."

Excessive military expenditures, the Pope says, "create pockets of underdevelopment and desperation and paradoxically become a cause of instability, tension and conflict."

Time and again, the world has seen that poverty contributes to conflict and violent conflict contributes to poverty. This vicious cycle is true within nations and between nations.

However, while the link between conflict and poverty has been widely recognized, too often efforts to address the problem tend to be mainly in the context of the fight against global terrorism.

There are many conflicts that may not directly threaten Western security, but that also need our serious attention. Presently, there are more than 30 armed conflicts raging in the world; and, in sub-Saharan Africa, more than a third of the population lives under some form of armed conflict.

Therefore, much more needs to be done to prevent conflict and build sustainable peace in developing countries. Violent conflict undermines development and can set it back decades. More than a trillion dollars every year is appropriated to military spending - money that could otherwise be allocated to health, education and other poverty-alleviation programs.

Our Bishops' Conference has produced a Catholic Study Guide based on Catholic social teaching on these issues. I encourage you as individuals and within your parishes to access these resources at www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/nuclear.shtml.

We can all act locally to make our world a safer place in which to live.

(05/06/10) [[In-content Ad]]

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