Canadian Catholic bishops show world leadership in condemning nuclear weapons

Canada’s Catholic bishops have bravely stuck their necks out in a formal statement by solidly backing Pope Francis’s condemnation of the possession of nuclear weapons, and blasting NATO and the nuclear weapons states for continuing “to shirk their legal obligation … to pursue good faith negotiations toward the elimination of nuclear weapons.” Some may consider that Catholic bishops supporting the pope is the equivalent of adding ice cream to apple pie. But in the internecine battles that characterize Vatican curia politics today, the Canadian action is a striking counter-move against the American and European bishops, who are undermining, by their silence, Pope Francis’s social justice teachings. I attended the special Vatican conference in 2017 on nuclear weapons at which Pope Francis, in a historic statement, “firmly condemned ... the very possession” of nuclear weapons. The clear language the Pope used in speaking out against the “mentality of fear” and “false sense of security” that drives the new nuclear arms race captured the attention of scores of diplomats, Nobel laureates, and journalists. A senior cardinal told me the implementation of the Pope’s message would depend on whether the national hierarchies got behind it. Douglas Roche, pictured with Pope Francis at the Vatican conference on nuclear disarmament in 2017. Photograph by Servizio Fotografico-L'Osservatore Romano courtesy of Douglas Roche Catholic bishops in NATO countries felt themselves in a dilemma. The Pope’s words were a direct attack on NATO’s nuclear deterrence policies, which continue to affirm that nuclear weapons are the “supreme guarantee” of security. A vigorous debate broke out within the Vatican, pitting hard-line conservatives against those who want to implement the words of the Second Vatican Council 54 years ago, that the nuclear arms race is an “utterly treacherous trap for humanity.” Turning words into action, the Pope directed the Holy See to be among the first to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted at the UN in 2017. All the NATO states are shunning the treaty, which will enter into force when 50 states have ratified it (so far 32 have). Not one national hierarchy in a NATO country spoke up. Now, a plenary meeting of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has—forcefully. “NATO policy undermines the new treaty,” the bishops said. “We call on Canada, through changes in its own own policies and practices, to persist in efforts to bring NATO into conformity with the treaty.” This action would clear the way for Canada to sign and ratify the treaty, which the bishops see as a “major step towards comprehensive negotiations for the elimination of all nuclear weapons.” The bishops, pointing out the continued existence of 14,465 nuclear weapons held by nine countries, expressed “great concern at the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the use of even one nuclear weapon.” This led them to elaborate their concern that reductions in numbers since the Cold War “merely mask the modernization process in which today’s nuclear weapons contain far more explosive power than the atomic bombs which destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” There is not a whiff of partisan politics in the Canadian bishops’ statement. By publishing it on Sept. 26, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, they have quashed any charge that they are interfering in the current federal election. Nonetheless, the bishops have made it clear that they refuse, by silence on a principal moral issue in the world today, to give comfort to the Canadian government, which still refuses to sign the Prohibition Treaty. The Canadian bishops, unlike the Americans and Europeans, have seized this issue and, in so doing, are providing moral leadership that will, at the very least, make the hierarchies in other NATO countries somewhat uncomfortable. Whether it will affect the government of Canada, no matters who wins the election, remains to be seen. But, in fully supporting Pope Francis at a time when his enemies would like to see him retire, and in standing up among all the hierarchies in NATO countries, the Canadian bishops are showing world leadership. In November, Pope Francis will journey to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the sites of the only use—so far—of atomic bombs, and where more than 200,000 persons perished. Pope Francis has not forgotten this calamity, even though NATO and the nuclear powers seem to have, and remain virtually mute as the hard-built architecture of nuclear disarmament crumbles. Pope Francis’s re-statement of the moral evil of nuclear weapons will add to the growing calls for the U.S. and Russia to extend the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which limits the numbers of strategic nuclear weapons they possess. This will be followed next spring by international efforts at the UN to put some teeth into the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The subject of nuclear disarmament is very much alive—and the Canadian Catholic bishops have done a double service in nudging their fellow bishops around the world and waking up Canadian foreign policy at a critical moment. Douglas Roche was a Member of Parliament from 1972-1984, a Senator from 1998 to 2004, and is also a former Canadian ambassador for disarmament and author. The Hill Times

Canadian Catholic bishops show world leadership in condemning nuclear weapons

Canadian Catholic bishops have done a double service in nudging their fellow bishops around the world and waking up Canadian foreign policy at a critical moment.

World’s only surviving multilateral nuclear weapons treaty is on the verge of collapse

Canada’s absence at nuclear prohibition treaty meeting a disappointment

Putin has shown, in a demented and terrifying way, why the possession of nuclear weapons must be outlawed now

World’s only surviving multilateral nuclear weapons treaty is on the verge of collapse

How polls help parties plan policy

Success of the Stephenville project is an important test case for Canada

Good corporate citizenship isn’t a matter of choice

International development: more important than ever for the public and private sectors

How to avoid a war with China

Ottawa Declaration hits sensitive nerve inside federal government

Canadians want nuclear disarmament and our government should act

Canada still has obligation to participate in good faith in negotiations on nuclear disarmament

Government clams up on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Treaty which comes into force on Jan. 22

In subtle diplomatic move, Canada ceases its opposition to nuclear weapons prohibition treaty

News

Get free news updates

Opinion

Submit a guest opinion article

resources

Advertise

subscribe

get help

Canadian Catholic bishops show world leadership in condemning nuclear weapons

Canadian Catholic bishops have done a double service in nudging their fellow bishops around the world and waking up Canadian foreign policy at a critical moment.

Get The Foreign Policy and Diplomacy Newsletter