Pope calls for peaceful use of nuclear

31 July 2007

[Catholic News, 31 July; Christian Today, 1 August] UPDATED Pope Benedict XVI, speaking at his summer residence in Castelgandolfo, Italy, on 29 July noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was celebrating its 50th anniversary. He pleaded for nuclear disarmament but supported the use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Pope Benedict said, "The Holy See [Vatican City], fully approving of the IAEA's goal, has been a member from the organization's foundation and continues to support its activity." He added, "The epochal changes of the past 50 years show how in the difficult crossroads that humanity finds itself, the commitment to encourage the non-proliferation of nuclear arms, to promote a progressive and agreed-upon nuclear disarmament, and to favour the peaceful and safe use of nuclear technology for authentic development - respectful of the environment and always attentive to the most disadvantaged populations - is always relevant and urgent." He stressed that in place of the arms race "there must be substituted a common effort to mobilize resources towards objectives of moral, cultural and economic development, redefining the priorities and hierarchies of values." The Pope requested that "scientific and technological knowledge be used with a sense of responsibility and for the common good, in complete respect for international law." In addition, Cardinal Renato Martino, the Pope's justice minister, has said that nuclear energy should be considered as part of a balanced energy mix. He said, "With maximum safety requirements in place for people and the environment, and with a ban in place on the hostile use of nuclear technology, why should the peaceful use of nuclear technology be barred?" Cardinal Martino, a former papal envoy to the United Nations, added: "Excluding nuclear energy because of a preconceived principle or for fears of disasters could be a mistake and in some cases could have paradoxical effects." He said, "One should think of Italy, which abandoned the production of nuclear energy in 1987 but which imports the same type of energy from France."

Further information

International Atomic Energy Agency

WNA's The Nuclear Debate information paper

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