Vatican urges U.S., North Korea, China, others to ratify nuke treaty

Published: 2007-10-03

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican called on the United States, North Korea, China, India, Pakistan and other nations to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. "The climate of terrorism caused by criminal organizations is not eliminated by the fear which is linked to the threat of the use of weapons of mass destruction by states," said Msgr. Michael W. Banach, a Vatican diplomat. Both terrorism and the threat of using nuclear weapons "are an offense to the human family," he said. Msgr. Banach led the Vatican delegation to the late September Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. The text of his speech to the conference was released Oct. 3 by the Vatican. While 177 nations have signed the treaty since 1996, and 140 of them -- including the Vatican -- have ratified it, 10 more nations must ratify the treaty before it can enter into effect. Conference organizers are looking particularly for acceptance by China, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, India and the United States.

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