Immediate Release
August 6, 2020
Washington, D.C. – On the 75th anniversary of the first use of a nuclear weapon against a civilian population, Franciscan Action Network calls on the United States to eliminate its nuclear stockpile.
“As Franciscans, we wrestle with the fact that the code name for the first nuclear weapon test was ‘Trinity’ and that the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on the Feast of the Transfiguration,” remarked Steve Schneck, executive director of the Franciscan Action Network. “We follow the non-violent examples of Jesus and Francis. In the words so often attributed to St. Francis, we pray that all nations may be made ‘instruments of God’s peace’.”
We echo the words of Pope Francis, uttered in Hiroshima last November, “The use of atomic weapons for purposes of war is immoral, just as possessing nuclear weapons is immoral.”
No legitimate, moral use of these weapons of incalculable mass destruction is possible. By their very nature, these weapons cause untold civilian casualties — as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75 years ago gives horrible testament.
Franciscan Action Network calls for the United States to re-engage with the world’s nuclear powers to restart nuclear arms control negotiations, to promote nuclear disarmament, forbid new nuclear weapons testing and development, and to advance efforts at halting nuclear proliferation. We must work to end nuclear weapons and invest in peacebuilding.
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