On Wednesday, February 4th Pope Leo XIV outlined the risk of “a new arms race”—with the final U.S.-Russia nuclear treaty now set to expire.
New START—the most recent nuclear treaty between Washington and Moscow, following decades of agreements dating back to the Cold War—is due to expire on Thursday, ending the remaining restrictions on the world’s two leading nuclear powers.
During his weekly general audience, Pope Leo stated:
I urge you not to abandon this instrument without seeking to ensure that it is followed up in a concrete and effective manner.… The current situation requires us to do everything possible to avert a new arms race, which further threatens peace between nations.
Leo, the Catholic Church’s first American pontiff, added that it was “more urgent than ever to replace the logic of fear and mistrust with a shared ethic capable of guiding choices towards the common good.”
