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VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo on Wednesday criticized the “illusory security” of the global nuclear deterrence system, in an appeal on the 80th anniversary of the United States dropping an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War.
Leo, the first US-born pope, said in his weekly audience that the destruction in Hiroshima, which killed about 78,000 people instantly, should serve “as a universal warning against the devastation caused ... by nuclear weapons.”
“I hope that in the contemporary world, marked by strong tensions and bloody conflicts, the illusory security based on the threat of mutual destruction will give way to ... the practice of dialogue,” said the pontiff.
While the Catholic Church for decades gave tacit acceptance to the system of nuclear deterrence that developed in the Cold War, Leo’s predecessor Pope Francis changed the Church’s teaching to condemn the possession of nuclear arms.
Francis, who died in April after a 12-year papacy, also strongly backed the UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons, which formally went into force in 2021 but has not gained support from any of the nuclear-armed nations.
Leo’s appeal on Wednesday came hours after representatives from 120 countries, including the US, attended an annual ceremony in Hiroshima to mark the atomic bombing.
Among those attending the ceremony was a delegation of Catholic bishops from Japan, South Korea and the US including Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago and Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C.
“We strongly condemn all wars and conflicts, the use and possession of nuclear weapons and the threat to use nuclear weapons,” the bishops said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

BERLIN: Large parts of Dresden’s old town were evacuated on Wednesday as experts sought to defuse an unexploded World War II bomb found during clearance work for a collapsed bridge.
Some 17,000 people were asked to leave their homes in the eastern German city, authorities said.
The affected area includes the famous Frauenkirche, a church that was rebuilt brick-for-brick after being destroyed in the war, as well as several hotels.
The Carola Bridge, one of Dresden’s main Elbe river crossings, partly collapsed in the middle of the night in September 2024.
The entire structure is due to be demolished by October.
Around 80 years after the war, Germany remains littered with unexploded ordnance, often uncovered during construction work.
Over 20,000 people were evacuated from central Cologne in June after three unexploded World War II bombs were found, the biggest such operation in the city since the end of the war.
The heart of the city was left deserted, with a hospital, two old people’s homes, nine schools and a TV studio evacuated.
The bomb found in Dresden was British-made and weighs 250 kilograms, according to city authorities.