VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis warned on Friday that international relations can no longer be “held captive” by fear-based nuclear deterrence policies and urged government leaders to instead pursue an admittedly utopian future of a world free of atomic weapons.

Pope Francis welcomed Nobel laureates, United Nations officials, Nato representatives and diplomats from countries with the bomb to a Vatican conference aimed at galvanising global support for complete nuclear disarmament.

The pope acknowledged that current tensions might make a rapid shift away from the Cold War-era idea that nations need nuclear weapons to prevent their enemies from using them “increasingly remote.” But he said relying on nuclear arsenals to maintain a balance of power “creates nothing but a false sense of security.” Any use of them, even accidental, would be “catastrophic” for humanity and the environment, he warned.

“International relations cannot be held captive to military force, mutual intimidation and the parading of stockpiles of arms,” Pope Francis said. Peace and security among nations must instead be “inspired by an ethics of solidarity,” he said.

The Catholic Church’s first Jesuit and first Latin American pope added that “progress that is both effective and inclusive can achieve the utopia of a world free of deadly instruments of aggression.” Pope Francis endorsed a new UN treaty calling for the elimination of atomic weapons, saying it filled an important gap in international law. Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the advocacy group that won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for its instrumental role in getting the treaty passed, is among the speakers at the two-day Vatican meeting.

The conference comes amid mounting tensions on the Korean peninsula and heated rhetoric between Washington and Pyongyang over the North’s nuclear am­­bitions. But the event’s orga­nizer, Cardinal Peter Tur­kson, told participants that the gathering was planned well before US President Donald Trump began his current trip to Asia, where the Korean nuclear threat has topped his agenda.

Drawing laughs from the largely secular audience, Turkson said it was “divine providence” that the conference and US president’s trip coincided.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2017