Description
Book SynopsisOn 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.
Trade ReviewEffectively 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 *
Table of ContentsPrefacePeter 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
