A World Free from Nuclear Weapons: The Vatican Conference on Disarmament

by Drew Christiansen (Editor), Carole Sargent (Editor)

Overview

On November 10, 2017, Pope Francis became the first pontiff in the nuclear era to take a complete stand against nuclear weapons, even as a form of deterrence. At a Vatican conference of leaders in the field of disarmament, he made it clear that the possession of the bomb itself was immoral. A World Free from Nuclear Weapons presents the pope’s address and original testimony from Nobel Peace Prize laureates, religious leaders, diplomats, and civil society activists.

These luminaries, which include the pope and a Hiroshima survivor, make the moral case against possessing, manufacturing, and deploying nuclear arms. Drew Christiansen, a member of the Holy See delegation to the 2017 United Nations conference that negotiated the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, helps readers to understand this conference in its historical context.

A World Free from Nuclear Weapons is a critical companion for scholars of modern Catholicism, moral theology, and peace studies, as well as policymakers working on effective disarmament. It shows how the Church’s revised position presents an opportunity for global leaders to connect disarmament to larger movements for peace, pointing toward future action.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626168039
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	08/03/2020
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Drew Christiansen, SJ, is Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Human Development at the Walsh School of Foreign Service and a senior fellow at its Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, both at Georgetown University. He serves as a frequent consultant to the Holy See and as a member of the steering committee of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. Although best known for his time as editor-in-chief of America: The Jesuit Weekly, he is also the coauthor or coeditor of a number of books, including most recently Forgiveness in International Politics: An Alternative Road to Peace, and a contributing editor for the Journal of Catholic Social Thought and the Review of Faith & International Affairs.

Carole Sargent is a literary historian of early modern women’s political thought and founding director of Georgetown University’s Office of Scholarly Publications. The author of two books, her national media platform has included NPR, CNN, The New York Times, and 60 Minutes. As an Associate of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ), she founded a faculty peace community in Washington, DC, and has presented with Drew Christiansen at the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas in Rome, Italy, on Catholic sisters who are active in nuclear disarmament.

Table of Contents

PrefacePeter K. A. Cardinal Turkson

Introduction: Toward a Positive PeaceDrew Christiansen, SJ

Part I: Setting the Agenda

1. Address by His Holiness Pope Francis

2. Address by Pietro Cardinal Parolin

Part II: Witnesses

3. Surviving the Atomic BombMasako Wada

4. Hiroshima’s Heritage and the Role of Companies in City Reconstruction: How This Experience Shaped Today’s ValuesBruno L. Müller

Part III: Laureates

5. Letter from Nobel Peace Prize Laureates to His Holiness Pope Francis on the Occasion of the International ConferenceMohamed ElBaradei, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Jody Williams, and Muhammad Yunus

6. Nuclear Weapons: Confronting ArmageddonMohamed ElBaradei

7. For the Disarmament of InjusticeAdolfo Pérez Esquivel

8. Will Human Beings Survive Another Century?Muhammad Yunus

9. What the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Can Offer for the Future Work of Nongovernmental OrganizationsBeatrice Fihn

10. Nukes, Land Mines, and Killer RobotsJody Williams

11. The Peace Process in Northern IrelandMairead Corrigan-Maguire

Part IV: Diplomats

12. The UN Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Ban Nuclear Weapons: A DebateRose Gottemoeller, Thomas Hajnoczi, and Jorge Lomónaco

13. Beyond Nuclear Deterrence: Transforming the US-Russian EquationAlexei Georgevich Arbatov

14. International Diplomacy and International Security IssuesIzumi Nakamitsu

15. The Role of International Diplomacy and International OrganizationsThomas Stelzer

Part V: International Civil Society

16. The Humanitarian Initiative as a Condition for the Ban on Nuclear WeaponsFrançois Bugnion

17. The Role of Civil SocietySusi Snyder

18. Reconciliation and DisarmamentMarie-Noëlle Koyara

19. The Risks of Nuclear War TodayPaolo Cotta-Ramusino

20. Dealing with Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle EastEmily Landau

21. Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East: Resolving the DeadlockAyman Khalil

Part VI: More Religious Voices

22. We Must Do No LessMonsignor Robert W. McElroy

23. Transforming the Human SpiritHiromasa Ikeda

24. Migrations and WarsMonica Attias

25. The Social and Moral Responsibilities of Knowledge WorkersDrew Christiansen, SJ

26. Preliminary ConclusionsStephen Colecchi

Part VII: Closing

27. Salutations Peter K. A. Cardinal Turkson

Afterword: The Holy See and Nuclear Disarmament—Achievements and ChallengesArchbishop Silvano M. Tomasi

What People are Saying About This

Kenneth R. Himes

An important contribution to the debate and discussion about the path toward disarmament, for a range of communities.

George A. Lopez

A World Free from Nuclear Weapons demonstrates the role that the religious community can play in an important public policy discussion and how it might contribute to a political movement. The volume will interest anyone examining the relevance of religious actors in public life.

Editorial Reviews

Effectively compiled and edited by the team of Drew Christiansen and Carole Sargent, "A World Free from Nuclear Weapons: The Vatican Conference on Disarmament" is an extraordinary work that should be considered essential reading by all members of the Catholic community in general, and anyone concerned with the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the world today.

Midwest Book Review

An important contribution to the debate and discussion about the path toward disarmament, for a range of communities.

Kenneth R. Himes

A World Free from Nuclear Weapons demonstrates the role that the religious community can play in an important public policy discussion and how it might contribute to a political movement. The volume will interest anyone examining the relevance of religious actors in public life.

George A. Lopez

Effectively compiled and edited by the team of Drew Christiansen and Carole Sargent, "A World Free from Nuclear Weapons: The Vatican Conference on Disarmament" is an extraordinary work that should be considered essential reading by all members of the Catholic community in general, and anyone concerned with the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the world today.

From the Publisher