Inspiration and Illumination at the United Nations
A preliminary report on April 9, 2015
The Global Security Institute is profoundly honored to have co-hosted with the Holy See a remarkably inspirational event at the United Nations on April 9, 2015. Titled “Nuclear Weapons and the Moral Compass,” the event included a riveting panel of leaders in the Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish, Muslim, diplomatic, and interfaith communities, as well as two enchanting performances by world-renown cellist, Michael Fitzpatrick.
TIME published a detailed report of this event in its recent piece highlighting Pope Francis’ leadership on this issue.
We believe that amplifying a morally-based call for nuclear weapons abolition is both politically efficacious as well as the right thing to do. We are inspired by the outstanding leadership demonstrated by Pope Francis, who issued his unequivocal, urgent call for nuclear disarmament in December, as part of the Holy See’s “Nuclear Disarmament: A Time for Abolition.”
We are futher pleased that there was, concurrent with the event at the United Nations, a meeting at the Vatican with US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller, who reaffirmed the centrality of President Obama’s Prague vision to pursue “the peace and security of a world free of nuclear weapons” and stated that “the Church is a natural leader in the arena of nuclear disarmament.”
We are grateful for the high level participation by the United Nations in our efforts to advance the moral imperative.
A full event report, replete with transcripts, video, and audio of the presentations and performances will be published on the GSI website in the coming days. The UN, in the meantime, has produced an excellent video of the entire event, which we encourage you to view.
We would like to thank all of the participants, especially the several hundred audience members, who joined in this unique event, and welcome your feedback.
Very truly yours,
Jonathan Granoff
President
H.E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza
Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the UN
Ms. Virginia Gamba
UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA)
Ambassador Libran Cabactulan
Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the UN
World-renown cellist Michael Fitzpatrick performs
at “Nuclear Weapons and the Moral Compass”
For more photos from “Nuclear Weapons and the Moral Compass” click here
Media Coverage
- Elizabeth Dias, “Pope Francis’ Latest Mission: Stopping Nuclear Weapons,” TIME, April 10, 2015.
- Beth Griffin, “Speakers emphasize moral urgency of ridding world of nuclear weapons,” Catholic Free Press, April 10, 2015.
- Cindy Wooden, “U.S. official says church stand on nuclear weapons helps disarmament,” Catholic News Service, April 10, 2015.
