On November 10, 2017, Pope Francis became the first pontiff in the nuclear era to take a complete stand against nuclear weapons, even as a form of deterrence. At a Vatican conference of leaders in the field of disarmament, he made it clear that the possession of the bomb itself was immoral. A World Free from Nuclear Weapons presents the pope’s address and original testimony from Nobel Peace Prize laureates, religious leaders, diplomats, and civil society activists. These luminaries, which include the pope and a Hiroshima survivor, make the moral case against possessing, manufacturing, and deploying nuclear arms. Drew Christiansen, a member of the Holy See delegation to the 2017 United Nations conference that negotiated the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, helps readers to understand this conference in its historical context. A World Free from Nuclear Weapons is a critical companion for scholars of modern Catholicism, moral theology, and peace studies, as well as policymakers working on effective disarmament. It shows how the Church’s revised position presents an opportunity for global leaders to connect disarmament to larger movements for peace, pointing toward future action.

Table of Contents:
Preface Peter K. A. Cardinal Turkson Introduction: Toward a Positive Peace Drew Christiansen, SJ Part I: Setting the Agenda 1. Address by His Holiness Pope Francis 2. Address by Pietro Cardinal Parolin Part II: Witnesses 3. Surviving the Atomic Bomb Masako Wada 4. Hiroshima’s Heritage and the Role of Companies in City Reconstruction: How This Experience Shaped Today’s Values Bruno L. Müller Part III: Laureates 5. Letter from Nobel Peace Prize Laureates to His Holiness Pope Francis on the Occasion of the International Conference Mohamed ElBaradei, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Jody Williams, and Muhammad Yunus 6. Nuclear Weapons: Confronting Armageddon Mohamed ElBaradei 7. For the Disarmament of Injustice Adolfo Pérez Esquivel 8. Will Human Beings Survive Another Century? Muhammad Yunus 9. What the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Can Offer for the Future Work of Nongovernmental Organizations Beatrice Fihn 10. Nukes, Land Mines, and Killer Robots Jody Williams 11. The Peace Process in Northern Ireland Mairead Corrigan-Maguire Part IV: Diplomats 12. The UN Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Ban Nuclear Weapons: A Debate Rose Gottemoeller, Thomas Hajnoczi, and Jorge Lomónaco 13. Beyond Nuclear Deterrence: Transforming the US-Russian Equation Alexei Georgevich Arbatov 14. International Diplomacy and International Security Issues Izumi Nakamitsu 15. The Role of International Diplomacy and International Organizations Thomas Stelzer Part V: International Civil Society 16. The Humanitarian Initiative as a Condition for the Ban on Nuclear Weapons François Bugnion 17. The Role of Civil Society Susi Snyder 18. Reconciliation and Disarmament Marie-Noëlle Koyara 19. The Risks of Nuclear War Today Paolo Cotta-Ramusino 20. Dealing with Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East Emily Landau 21. Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East: Resolving the Deadlock Ayman Khalil Part VI: More Religious Voices 22. We Must Do No Less Monsignor Robert W. McElroy 23. Transforming the Human Spirit Hiromasa Ikeda 24. Migrations and Wars Monica Attias 25. The Social and Moral Responsibilities of Knowledge Workers Drew Christiansen, SJ 26. Preliminary Conclusions Stephen Colecchi Part VII: Closing 27. Salutations Peter K. A. Cardinal Turkson Afterword: The Holy See and Nuclear Disarmament—Achievements and Challenges Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi