Nuclear Disarmament
About the Project
Started in 2014, the Project on Revitalizing Catholic Engagement on Nuclear Disarmament is focused on revitalizing and strengthening the voice of the Catholic community in the United States and beyond in the debate on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. Through various initiatives the project is empowering a new generation of Catholics: Church leaders, scholars, and students – to contribute to wider efforts to further reduce and ultimately eliminate nuclear weapons. The project has three main areas of focus: Policy Engagement, Scholar Engagement, and Student Engagement.
This Project is co-sponsored by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame; the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, at Georgetown University; Institute for Polcy Research, The Catholic University of America, and the Catholic Peacebuilding Network.
Upcoming Events
December 7, 2021
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. EST RSVP Required
Location: Online Zoom Webinar
On February 6, 2021, George P. Shultz, one of this country’s most distinguished public servants, passed away at age 100. Shultz had served in three U.S. administrations as secretary of labor, director of the Office of Management and Budget, secretary of the Treasury, and secretary of state. After the 1986 Reykjavik Summit, he led negotiations with the Soviet Union that led in December 1987 to the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Inspired by those events, Shultz spent much of his retirement working for nuclear disarmament, culminating in 2007 with his appeal with other senior American statesmen for nuclear abolition. With former Secretary of Defense William Perry, he also engaged religious leaders, including hosting colloquia on Catholic approaches to nuclear disarmament in 2014 and 2018.
This panel will explore the legacy of Secretary Shultz especially with respect to his efforts to create the conditions necessary for a world without nuclear weapons. It will also discuss Shultz’s approach to diplomacy and statecraft with its commitment to long-term goals and pragmatic short-term engagement with adversaries, analyzing his ideas about a global commons and the need to manage threats to humanity through international mechanisms. Finally, the panelists will identify lessons we can learn from Shultz’s achievements and share their thoughts about the future of nuclear disarmament and the abolition campaign.
This event will be hosted by Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs in partnership with the Catholic Peacebuilding Network; Catholic University of America's Institute for Policy Research; and the William J. Perry Project. This is one of a series of initiatives of the Project on Revitalizing Catholic Engagement on Nuclear Disarmament.
Latest News
"A Conversation with Nickolas Roth of the Stimson Center"
On the newest episode of The Kroc Cast: Peace Studies Conversations, Sean Raming, current Kroc Institute Ph.D. in Peace Studies and History, talks with Nickolas Roth, director of the Stimson Center’s Nuclear Security Program and International Nuclear Security Forum, about current conversations about nuclear weapons, deterrence, disarmament, and arms control.
2021 Catholic Press Awards - Second Place Award Recipient
Fr. Drew Christiansen, S.J. and Carole Sargent, Editors, received second place at the Catholic Press Awards for the Morality, Ethics category for their book
A World Free From Nuclear Weapons: The Vatican Conference on Disarmament, Georgetown University Press, January 2019.
"A World Free from Nuclear Weapons is a critical companion for scholars of modern Catholicism, moral theology, and peace studies, as well as policymakers working on effective disarmament. It shows how the Church's revised position presents an opportunity for global leaders to connect disarmament to larger movements for peace, pointing toward future action."
Statements from Pope Francis
The Pope in Nagasaki Urges Commitment to a World Free of Nuclear Weapons, November 2020
During his historic visit to Japan, the Pope addresses the use and possession of nuclear weapons, and urges world leaders to create a world free of nuclear weapons.
Vatican Transcript of Pope's Speech at the Atom Bomb Hypo Center Park in Nagasaki