To the Editor:
“Weapons that risk catastrophic humanitarian consequences cannot possibly be viewed as providing people’s security. Protecting humanity requires courage, commitment and concerted action; it is time to put humanity first by prohibiting and completely eliminating nuclear weapons.” (Appeal issued by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement on April 28, 2017, in Nagasaki, Japan.)
There are presently nine countries that possess more than 15,300 nuclear weapons; of those, more than 90 percent are in the arsenals of the United States and Russia (wagingpeace.org). The U.S. has budgeted more than $23 billion for research, development, and maintenance of nuclear weapons according to the 2017 Department of Energy. To all this we, the Sisters of St. Francis of Clinton, Iowa, associates and sojourners, oppose the continued maintenance, research, development and threatened use of the U.S. arsenal of nuclear weapons. We call on our government to fulfill our agreements in the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970 and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty of 1996.
We are proud sponsors of the Women’s March to Ban the Bomb! that will be held on June 17 in New York City. Showing our support locally for the United Nations negotiations to adapt a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, we will host Dr. Maureen McCue, MD, PhD, on Thursday, June 22 at 6:30 p.m. at 841 13th Ave. N. in Clinton. McCue is the coordinator for the Iowa Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and an Adjunct Professor of Global Health. A 35-minute film, “Hiroshima: Repentance and Renewal” will precede her presentation. For more information visit, www.Clintonfranciscans. com.
Sr. Nancy Miller
Franciscan Peace Center
