“It is our conviction that the present opportunity must be transformed into conclusive actions,” expressed the heads of the World Council of Churches, Conference of European Churches, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and the Canadian Council of Churches.
“Every state has a part to play in breaking out of the self-fulfilling logic so often cited, that ‘we will need nuclear weapons as long as others have them,” stated the letter. “We appeal to all nuclear-weapon states and states with nuclear weapons on their soil to contribute to progress under the new political dynamic.”
In encouraging the letter’s recipients to “pursue this new course,” the ecumenical leaders echoed past calls by their respective governing bodies, including the call for Russia to address its vast number of tactical nuclear weapons; the call for NATO to clearly endorse the new call for a nuclear-weapon-free world; and the call for the European Union to equally endorse the new call for a nuclear-weapon-free world in the EU Common Position for the 2010 NPT Review Conference.
They also said they believe the new striving to abolish nuclear weapons is a development that raises hope in the world.
