CSJP Statement Opposes Proposed Increase in UK Nuclear Warheads
The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace in the UK and the US, committed
to active nonviolence and working for total nuclear disarmament, call on Boris Johnson
and the UK government to reverse its recent decision to increase its number of nuclear
warheads by forty percent. Such an expansion is immoral, illegal, a waste of funds and
a threat to what nuclear stability exists.
On January 22 of this year the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
entered into force, making it illegal under international law to develop, test,
produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons.Rather than increase the threat of conflict, the funding to pay for the increased
number of warheads could better be used to support efforts more likely to lead
to a healthier and more peaceful world order: by funding the NHS which has
risen so heroically in this time of pandemic or restoring the foreign aid that is
being cut from the budget.The decision to increase the number of warheads violates the Nonproliferation
Treaty (NPT) to which the UK is a signatory. This will further destabilize the global
nuclear situation making it more difficult for negotiators to renew the NPT during
talks at the UN later this year. Furthermore, the increase in the number of
warheads by the UK undermines the NPT as a rationale for denying nuclear
capability to Iran.
In November of 2017, Pope Francis declared that possession of nuclear weapons, even
for the purpose of deterrence is no longer moral.
Our already fragile planet and its environment is threatened by any use of nuclear
weapons, intentional or accidental. We dare not ever use them, or the "security" they
provide could create an environmental, and humanitarian disaster of untold
proportions.
At Nagasaki, the site of the last use of a nuclear weapon in war, Pope Francis said,
"Peace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build
upon the fear of mutual destruction, or the threat of total annihilation,"
We urge all people of good will to join us in contacting their MPs early and often in the
hope of reversing this misguided, wasteful and dangerous policy
Let us continue to pray and act for a more peace-filled tomorrow.
April 13, 2021