The Vatican Calls for Global Nuclear Disarmament
Addressing the Third UN Preparatory Committee of the 2026 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Vatican Permanent Observer Archbishop Gabriele Caccia strongly reaffirms the Holy See’s unwavering call for global nuclear disarmament.
By Lisa Zengarini
“Peace is not possible without true disarmament,” the Holy See reiterated on Thursday. The current race to rearmament and resurgent nuclear deterrence policies are not the answer to the grave challenges facing the world today marked by political instability and the erosion of international peace, said Archbishop Gabriele Caccia.
In fact, “reliance on fear ultimately moves the international community further away from the pursuit of lasting and sustainable peace,” the Vatican Permanent Observer to the United Nations said, recalling Pope Francis’s tireless plea for global disarmament.
Logic of fear and deterrence jeopardize international peace
Speaking at the General Debate of the Third UN Preparatory Committee of the 2026 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in New York, Archbishop Caccia strongly condemned the global rise in rearmament and nuclear modernization, and criticized the prevailing “logic of fear and deterrence,” warning that such developments intensify global instability and erode trust among nations, further ”jeopardizing international peace and security.”
Need to eliminate nuclear arsenals
The Holy See’s delegation outlined three critical areas of concern. First, Archbishop Caccia called for an end to nuclear deterrence urging all nuclear-armed States to fulfill their obligations under Article VI of the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, “by engaging in good-faith negotiations to reduce stockpiles and eliminate nuclear arsenals.”
“To achieve comprehensive disarmament and prevent the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from the use of nuclear weapons,” he stressed “it is essential to resume genuine dialogue in order to establish binding limitations on the possession of these weapons and their delivery systems.“
Threat posed by new technologies
Second, the Vatican Nuncio highlighted the evolving risks posed by advanced technologies, including hypersonic missiles and cyber vulnerabilities, warning these could increase the likelihood of miscalculation or accidental launches.
“These concerns – he noted – are exacerbated by the incorporation of autonomous components, prompting critical ethical, humanitarian, legal, and security issues.”
Need to reduce military expenditure to fight hunger
Third, Archbishop Caccia highlighted the urgent need for the international community to redirect military spending towards the conversion, diversification, and restructuring of military industries for peaceful purposes.
In this regard, he reiterated the Holy See’s proposal to redirect resources otherwise devoted to armaments and military expenditure towards a dedicated fund to eradicate hunger and promote development in the most impoverished regions of the world, “offering a more compassionate and sustainable approach to addressing global inequalities and promoting human dignity.”
Reaffirming that “a world free of nuclear weapons is not only possible, but necessary” Archbishop Caccia concluded his statement by encouraging continued efforts to explore how the NPT and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) can serve to complement and reinforce one another.
Unprecedented rise in global military spending in 2024
According to the authoritative Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), world military expenditure reached a record $2718 billion in 2024, an increase of 9.4 per cent in real terms from 2023 and the steepest year-on-year rise since at least the end of the Cold War. Data published in its latest annual report issued this week show that military spending increased in all world regions, with particularly rapid growth in both Europe and the Middle East, as major wars rage in Ukraine and Gaza and military tensions spike from Europe to Asia. SIPRI warned there’s no end in sight to the spiraling global arms race.
