AP, NAGASAKI, JapanPope Francis yesterday demanded world leaders renounce atomic weapons and the Cold War-era doctrine of deterrence, saying the stockpiling of nuclear arms decreases security, wastes money and threatens humanity. Francis blasted the demise of arms control treaties while visiting Nagasaki, the site of the second of the two US atomic bombings on Japan in 1945. Francis visited Nagasaki — and later Hiroshima — at the start of his three-day trip to Japan aimed at emphasizing his call for a global ban on atomic weapons. “The possession of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction is not the answer to this desire; indeed they seem always to thwart it,” he said. “Instead, the pope reinforces the church’s long-standing efforts to delegitimize the nuclear status quo and convince the world that nuclear disarmament is not only a moral imperative but should be a policy goal,” Powers said in an e-mail.

Source: Taipei Times November 24, 2019 15:56 UTC