Seeking a nuclear weapon-free world

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee adopted a “Statement of hope in a year of opportunity: seeking a nuclear weapon free world” on Tuesday 1 September.

Seven decades into the nuclear age the statement calls on churches to take advantage of several promising opportunities in the coming year to advocate for a world without nuclear weapons. Among the opportunities mentioned is a special disarmament session of the UN Security Council for heads of state, to be chaired by President Barack Obama on 24 September 2009, as well as the International Day of Peace on 21 September 2009.

The WCC statement calls on states with nuclear weapon to “fulfill their unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals leading to nuclear disarmament” and invites churches to support their governments in making whole regions of the world safer through establishment of nuclear weapon-free zones.

Full text of the Statement of hope in a year of opportunity: seeking a nuclear weapon free world