Pax Christi released a Statement of Support signed by 218 Faith Leaders, including Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns Sustainable Pathways to Peace senior program officer Dan Moriarty. In it, leaders reiterate Pope Francis’ message: “IT IS TIME TO STOP THE KILLING AND DEVASTATION IN UKRAINE. CEASEFIRE AND PEACE NEGOTIATIONS NOW.”
Cluster munitions are among the most harmful weapons to civilians, as they are designed to disperse indiscriminately across a wide area and often fail to explode on initial use, littering communities with unstable unexploded ordnance and causing devastating harm to civilians, and especially children, years after a conflict ends.
This statement was first published by Pax Christi International on February 21 in anticipation of the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine.
With the Doomsday clock set to 90 seconds to midnight, and Russia suspending participation in a key nuclear arms control treaty, the risk of nuclear war is higher than ever.
Groups urge leaders to seek diplomatic solution to war, reject nuclear weapons, and support nonviolent resistance.
We condemn Mr. Putin’s threats, and implore you not to respond with nuclear weapons should he carry them out. We urge you to show great restraint, and to do everything in your power to deescalate the conflict, to seek dialogue with Russia, and take immediate, concrete steps toward nuclear disarmament.
There is no justification for the use of nuclear weapons. The sheer scale of their destructive capability would risk planetary annihilation and a humanitarian armageddon. A wide array of faith leaders and interfaith groups around the world have agreed that nuclear weapons are intrinsically immoral weapons that must never be used.
