Despite the concerns and protests of many, the Parliament at Westminster has chosen to approve the renewal of the United Kingdom independent nuclear deterrent.

The Catholic Church has the gravest moral reservations about the policy of deterrence based on nuclear weapons.

In his 2006 Message for the World Day of Peace, Pope Benedict XVI argued strongly against the deployment of nuclear arms as a means of ensuring security.

The Pope said: “In a nuclear war there would be no victors, only victims. 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 firm decisions, and strive for a progressive and concerted nuclear disarmament.”

I call upon the Government of the United Kingdom to resolve to reverse this decision at the earliest opportunity and to engage immediately in serious and meaningful negotiations with other nations with a view to the decommissioning of all nuclear weapons and of all weapons of mass destruction.  

Philip Tartaglia

Bishop of Paisley

15^th March 2007