Pope Benedict XVI calls for nuclear disarmament

Dec 13, 2005, 15:14 GMT

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI has called for a 'progressive and concerted' global nuclear disarmament, dismissing as 'baneful' and 'fallacious' the argument that atomic bombs make countries safer.

The appeal is part of the pontiff's traditional January 1 'Message for the World Day of Peace', which the Vatican published on Tuesday.

'In a nuclear war there would be no victors, only victims,' the pope notes in his message.

'The truth of peace requires that all - whether those governments which openly or secretly possess nuclear arms, or those planning to acquire them - agree to change their course by clear and concerted nuclear disarmament.'

The pope notes that the money currently spent by governments on nuclear weapons would be much better spent on projects 'capable of benefiting all their people, especially the poor'.

In his first such message as leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Joseph Ratzinger echoes many of the views previously exposed by his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

Ratzinger refers to the 'senseless and deadly strategies' of terrorism - often fuelled by 'nihilism' and 'religious fanaticism' - and insists on the central role of the United Nations in promoting peace.

He also calls for the need to uphold 'international humanitarian law' in 'today's armed conflicts'.

The basic premise behind the underlying theme of his message - 'In truth, peace' - is that peace cannot be achieved if truth is violated or ignored.

'Any authentic search for peace must begin with the realisation that the problem of truth and untruth is... decisive for the peaceful future of our planet',' the pope says.

To drive his point home, the 78-year-old pontiff draws on his personal experiences as a youth who grew up in Nazi Germany and then saw his country face off Eastern European Communist regimes.

'We need only think of the events of the past century, when aberrant ideological and political systems wilfully twisted the truth and brought about the exploitation and murder of an appalling number of men and women, wiping out entire families and communities.

'After experiences like these, how can we fail to be seriously concerned about lies in our own time, lies which are the framework for menacing scenarios of death in many parts of the world,' he asked.

In his message, Benedict salutes the 'tentative steps forward along the path of peace' seen in the Middle East and lambasts 'those authorities who, rather than making every effort to promote peace, incite their citizens to hostility towards other nations'.

Above all, peace is seen as a gift of God, 'an irrepressible yearning present in the heart of each person, regardless of his or her particular cultural identity', he says.

The pope points to his choice of name, Benedict, after his April 19 election, as 'a sign of my personal commitment to peace'.

'In taking this name, I wanted to evoke both the Patron Saint of Europe, who inspired a civilisation of peace on the whole continent, and Pope Benedict XV, who condemned the First World War as a 'useless slaughter' and worked for a universal acknowledgement of the lofty demands of peace,' Benedict said in his message.