The leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland has described Britain's
nuclear weapons programme as "shameful" as he urged the Government to
give it up.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien addressed representatives from
churches across Scotland outside Faslane nuclear base as he joined an
Easter witness for peace.
Speaking at Faslane for the first time,
he said: "I've been speaking of the teaching of the Catholic Church on
nuclear weapons for many years now, telling our message to whoever is
willing to listen, and I'm very pleased to repeat that teaching again
today.
"As you'll see, it's a consistent teaching, a central part of our pro-life stance, that has human dignity at its very core.
"And
it's a message I'm all the more glad to repeat here at the gates of
Faslane, which is the very heart of Britain's nuclear weapons industry.
Cardinal O'Brien said Trident was becoming obsolete, providing the opportunity to give it up.
He
continued: "Here at the gates of Faslane, there is no better place to
say that it is not courageous of Britain to have these dreadful weapons
of mass destruction.
"It is shameful to have them. If our
government wished to truly be courageous it would unilaterally give up
its nuclear deterrent, giving the witness and impetus for other nations
to do the same."