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Pope warns about nukes
07/01/2008 18:04 - (SA)
Vatican City - Pope Benedict, in his annual "state of the world" address, on Monday called on nations to make a global commitment on security in order to prevent terrorists from gaining access to nuclear weapons.
Speaking to diplomats from 176 countries accredited to the Vatican, he deplored "continual attacks" on human life, saying new frontiers in bioethics called for a "moral use of science".
He issued fresh appeals for Middle East peace, decried bloodshed in Asia and Africa, and welcomed the United Nations' recent resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty.
The Pope re-stated the Catholic Church's opposition to homosexual marriage and bluntly called on politicians to defend the traditional family as the basis of society.
"I wish to urge the international community to make a global commitment on security," he said in the speech that is sometimes referred to as a "state of the world" address.
"A joint effort on the part of states to implement all the obligations undertaken and to prevent terrorists from gaining access to weapons of mass destruction would undoubtedly
strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime and make it more effective," he said.
The leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics has often made appeals for nuclear and conventional disarmament but has never been so explicit on the need for governments to prevent terrorists from getting their hands on it.
'Good faith' negotiations
The Pope said he welcomed North Korea's agreement to join a nuclear dismantling programme and also called for "good faith" negotiations and diplomacy to resolve differences over Iran's nuclear programme.
Iran says its first atomic power plant will start operating in mid-2008, despite UN sanctions aimed at making it stop nuclear activity over concerns that it secretly seeks atomic bombs, not nuclear-generated electricity - as it maintains.
He welcomed the pledge made last November by Israeli and Palestinian leaders at Annapolis, Maryland to try to reach a peace deal by the end of 2008.
"I invite the international community to give strong support to these two peoples and to understand their respective sufferings and fears," he said.
He said: "I cannot but deplore once again the continual attacks perpetrated on every continent against human life.
- Reuters
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