Pope Francis to call for nuclear disarmament at a Vatican conference

Vatican, (Daily Mail), 9 November 2017 -  Pope Francis will host a nuclear summit at the Vatican tomorrow. Nobel Peace Prize winners alongside representatives from the UN, NATO, America and Russia will be in attendance.  

The conference is the first major international gathering since 122 countries approved a new U.N. treaty in July calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons.   The Pontiff will use his own address and the presence of 11 Nobel Peace Prize winners in an attempt to convince NATO officials and delegates from nuclear countries that it is time to abandon the bomb.The Holy See has long opposed nuclear proliferation and supported disarmament efforts around the world.   Vatican officials say the purpose of the conference is to send a ‘clear message’ to both Washington and Pyongyang to tone down their ‘excessive aggression’.Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons which was instrumental in getting the treaty passed, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and will be among the delegates. NATO’s Deputy Secretary General, Rose Gottemoeller, is scheduled to speak.