By Gina Christian, OSV News
Peace and nuclear disarmament begin in the heart, said the head of the nation’s Catholic bishops.
“We must renew our efforts to work for the conversion of heart required for a global commitment to lasting peace, and thus the elimination of nuclear weapons,” said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The archbishop shared his thoughts in an Aug. 4 statement ahead of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The attacks on the two Japanese cities — launched by the U.S. on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, in an effort to force the unconditional surrender of Japan and hasten the end of the war — killed an estimated 110,000 to 210,000 people. The true number of casualties is “probably fundamentally unknowable,” according to nuclear weapons historian Alex Wellerstein.
“As we mark this doleful anniversary, we recognize the ongoing threat of nuclear weapons and their proliferation,” said Archbishop Broglio.
His voice joins a growing chorus from Pope Leo XIV and several Catholic prelates — including longtime Vatican diplomat Cardinal Silvano Tomasi; Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, the Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations; and Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico — on the need for disarmament amid renewed threats of nuclear attacks and heightened geopolitical tensions worldwide.
Such tensions saw President Donald Trump announce Aug. 1 that he had ordered the move of two U.S. nuclear submarines to what he called “the appropriate regions,” following threats made online by former Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev about nuclear war risks.
Currently, more than 120 conflicts are taking place throughout the world, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Among the most prominent are Russia’s war in Ukraine; the Israel-Hamas war, which has threatened to become a wider regional conflict; civil wars in Myanmar and Sudan; insurgencies in various African nations, as well as in Afghanistan and Pakistan; and armed gang violence that has destabilized Haiti.
Military spending has soared, with the global total reaching a record high of close to $2.5 trillion in 2024, up more than 7% from 2023 and averaging just under 2% of nations’ gross domestic product. The European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada have accelerated defense investments, as the U.S. under the Trump administration has unsettled longstanding defense alliances.
Neither the United States or Russia, which together account for approximately 88% of the world’s nuclear weapons, have adopted the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
“Certainly, the atrocities of war continue to be evident even in our ‘developed world,’ where human life is victimized in the womb, near death, on the streets of our modern cities, and in the various war zones of the contemporary world,” observed Archbishop Broglio, lamenting, “We are slow to learn.”
He added, “Longing for peace, we pray for a change in mentality and an ever-deeper respect for every human person.”
Specifically, he said, “We advocate that dollars be spent in favor of development rather than for arms. We pray that the attitudes and absence of dialogue that led to the use of atomic arms eighty years ago might give way to mutual understanding, peace building, and international cooperation.”
In marking the anniversary of the atomic bombings, said Archbishop Broglio, “Let us prayerfully remember the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and urge the United States and the international community to work diligently for nuclear disarmament around the world. Following Pope Leo XIV’s recent appeal, we exhort all nations to ‘shape their future by works of peace, not through violence and bloody conflict!'”
