The World Council of Churches has said the Middle East needs to become a nuclear-weapon-free-zone and it has urged its members to work with other faiths in support of this objective.The WCC warned of a "cascade of nuclear proliferation" resulting from Iran's "failure to assure the international community that its civilian nuclear programs are not camouflaging its intention to develop nuclear weapons capability", and Israel's refusal to subject all its nuclear facilities to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
At a meeting near Geneva, the WCC's executive committee on 1 March said the need for the abolition of nuclear weapons is "more urgent than ever" as control mechanisms like the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty are facing pressure due to recent global political and military developments.
Other developments highlighted by the WCC included North Korea's nuclear weapon and ballistic missile tests; the "unilateral initiative" by the United States to accept India as a nuclear weapon state; and the "ongoing nuclear modernisation programmes of the nuclear weapon states" - namely Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
At the same time the WCC expressed appreciation for the establishment of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, and urged its member churches to encourage and support its efforts. The statement, adopted during the 27 February to 2 March meeting of the WCC governing body, praised the related peacebuilding fund launched in October 2006.
The WCC also called on UN member states to "provide full moral, material and human resources, backing and support to ensure the successful functioning" of the commission which is designed to support post-conflict stabilisation initiatives, such as implementation of peace agreements and prevention of the recurrence of conflict.
On the nuclear weapons issue, the WCC mentioned the dangers of unintended or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons as a result of "insufficiently secured weapons or weapons materials [falling] into the hands of non-state groups committed to acts of terror". The WCC said therefore it encourages its nearly 350 member churches to continue communicating "an ethical and theological perspective on nuclear arms to their governments" in order to pursue the goals of complete rejection of nuclear weapons.
It urged its churches to "engage with other faith communities in exploring ways of working together" towards those goals. This is particularly the case in the Middle East, where a nuclear-weapon-free-zone should be established, the committee said. Concerted church action" is crucial since "the nuclear proliferation challenges now facing the world can be effectively met if there is political will and moral fortitude", the WCC committee stated.
The WCC's 348 mainly Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches represent more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce