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Pope Francis wants a worldwide nuclear disarmament

During a visit to Hiroshima, Japan, one of two cities hit with atomic bombs at the end of World War II, Pope Francis called for worldwide nuclear disarmament. The Pope called nuclear weapons “immoral” and “criminal,” and said world leaders must come together to abolish them.

“Peace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build upon the fear of mutual destruction or the threat of total annihilation,” Pope Francis said. “In a world where millions of children and families live in inhumane conditions, the money that is squandered and the fortunes made through the manufacture, upgrading, maintenance, and sale of ever more destructive weapons are an affront crying out to heaven.”

Nuclear weapons have only been used one time in world history. In 1945, American fighter pilots dropped two nuclear bombs in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in order to force the Japanese to surrender and put an end to World War II. It worked–but at a great cost, killing more than 700,000 civilians.

Since then, leading world powers, including the United States, Russia, India, Pakistan, and several countries in Western Europe have raced to stockpile nuclear weapons, in order to deter another major conflict on the scale of World War II. However, Pope Francis is just the latest prominent figure to question the wisdom of the nuclear arms race.

“The use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral,” the Pope said on Sunday. “As is the possession of atomic weapons.”