Don’t replace ‘immoral’ Trident missile system
Jul 03, 2006
The storing, accumulating and replacing of nuclear weapons risks the immoral use of weapons of mass destruction, said the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, urging the British government not to replace the Trident nuclear missile system.
GLASGOW, Scotland (Catholic Online, 6/23/2006) – Cardinal Keith O'Brien of St. Andrews and Edinburgh and Rev. Alan McDonald, moderator of the general assembly of the Disciples of Christ Church of Scotland, stated their opposition to the government committing to the recommissioning of the missile system on June 22, 2006. The statements from the two religious leaders were released by the media office of the Scottish bishops’ conference.
The submarine-based Trident system, which is dependent on Scottish docks, is reaching the end of its useful life, leaving government ministers with a decision whether and/or how to replace it.
“The use of weapons of mass destruction would be a crime against God and against humanity that must never happen,” Cardinal O’Brien said.
“Since it is immoral to use weapons of mass destruction in an act of war, equally, storing, accumulating and replacing them far from eliminating the causes of war actually risks aggravating them,” he said.
Rev. McDonald stressed that “churches stand united in the belief that nuclear weapons are morally and theologically wrong.”
“As Disciples of Christ, our calling is to be peacemakers today in the world,” he said. “There can be no place for weapons of mass destruction in a world that God loves so much.”
Cardinal O’Brien and the Scottish bishops have stated their opposition over the last two months to the Trident missile system and the usage of nuclear weapons.
The highest ranking official of the Scottish Catholic Church became the first signatory to a petition urging the government of the United Kingdom to not commit to a replacement for the Trident nuclear weapons system.
In an event outside the Scottish parliament, Cardinal O’Brien joined with other religious officials and members of parliament May 12, 2006, in calling for the beginning of the process of decommissioning that weapons system and channeling funds spent on nuclear weaponry to development and aid programs.
“The church teaches that it is immoral to use weapons of mass destruction in an act of war to do so would be to commit a crime against God and man himself that merited unequivocal and unhesitating condemnation,” he said.
The eight Catholic bishops of Scotland appealed on April 11, 2006, to the government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair not to replace the Trident nuclear missile system, to begin the decommissioning of such weapons of mass destruction and to divert funds spent on nuclear weapons to social development.
Referring to the Second Vatican Council document Gaudium et Spes, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict and their own 1982 statement on nuclear weapons, the bishops noted their opposition to the use and the threat of use of nuclear weapons.
“The church teaches that it is immoral to use weapons of mass destruction in an act of war,” the Scottish bishops said. “Equally, storing and accumulating such weapons gives rise to strong moral reservations.”
“We urge the government of the United Kingdom not to invest in a replacement for the Trident system and to begin the process of decommissioning these weapons with the intention of diverting the sums spent on nuclear weaponry to programs of aid and development,” the bishops said in their statement’s conclusion.
The eight bishops of Scotland are: Cardinal O’Brien of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, Bishop Peter Moran of Aberdeen, Bishop Ian Murray of Argyll and the Isles, Bishop Vincent Logan of Dunkeld, Bishop John Cunningham of Galloway, Archbishop Mario Joseph Conti of Glasgow, Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell, and Bishop Philip Tartaglia of Paisley.
Don’t replace ‘immoral’ Trident missile system