The Sisters of the Good Samaritan have written to Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, urging him to fulfil his pledge to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
By Sister Catherine McCahill SGS
“We must ensure that this never happens again. Never again!” Just a boy and a man stood beside me in the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Museum. Thirty years later I vividly recall the scene, his north American accent, the quiet attention of the boy. I wonder where life has taken him. Does the memory of that day hold fast in his consciousness as it does in mine?
Earlier in the day, I had visited the sights and scenes of the nuclear devastation to which Hiroshima and its people were so brutally subjected on 6 August 1945. I saw also the peace cranes, symbol of the people’s hopes and prayers for peace. May it never happen again, here or anywhere on our planet.
In the preceding months I had spent several days in and around Nagasaki, where the second atomic bomb was dropped. There also the memorials, the burnt relics, the simple home (now a memorial) of Dr Takashi Nagai, the peace park and the cranes touched me profoundly.
Like so many others, I was deeply moved by the legacy of Nagai. Losing everything on the day of the bomb, he set about to treat the burnt and suffering people. Before his untimely death in 1951 from a radiation-related cancer, his actions, his words and his writings implored humanity to live peaceably. Most of all, he decried nuclear weapons.
Now, as I deepen my commitment to ecological conversion and as Congregational Leader, and invite my Sisters, Oblates and ministry partners to do the same, I have written to write to the Australian Prime Minister. It is time to call on him to make good his promise to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The Congregation Delegate for Ecological Conversion, Sister Marella Rebgetz SGS, is far better qualified than I to write on this matter so today, I share this space with her.
With Sister Marella Rebgetz SGS*
You may well ask, what does ecological conversion have to do with nuclear weapons? Pope Francis has described ecological conversion as “true repentance” that leads to the end of “ideologies and practices that are hurtful and disrespectful to the earth.”[1] Nuclear weapons are not just “hurtful”, they pose an existential threat to all life on earth.
Nuclear weapons are a multi-faceted threat. While the immediate blast would devastate the area on which it is exploded, the secondary firestorms pose a much greater danger. The firestorms of Hiroshima released about 1,000 times the energy of the explosion itself. These fires create millions of tonnes of black carbon soot.
If a cluster of bombs was dropped, this soot would be sufficient to disrupt the earth’s climate, causing a “nuclear winter”. The temperature of the earth would drop significantly, the world would be much darker, ultraviolet radiation would increase due to ozone loss, and rainfall would decrease. In addition, radioactivity and toxic chemical would be spread over a significant area.
A war involving less than 3% of nuclear weapons currently in existence could kill up to a third of earth’s human population, mostly due to famine.[2] The impact would be no less catastrophic on other life forms.
Various arguments are used by proponents of nuclear weapons to justify their arsenals, with one of the most common being that it is a deterrent, “tempering in some fashion the activities of potential adversaries around the globe”.[3] They argue that the threat of nuclear weapons has proven effective for the past 70 years, so assume that it will continue to do so into the future.
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has countered this argument, warning that “when each country pursues its own security without regard for others, we create global insecurity that threatens us all.”[4]
Despite the existence of nuclear weapons, the Geneva Academy currently recognises more than 110 armed conflicts across the world,[5] with several of these involving states that have, or are believed to have, nuclear weapons. The Doomsday Clock is still set at 90 seconds to midnight.[6]
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)[7] and others argue that the increased power, range and stealth of nuclear weapons, along with changes in the international political landscape, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and domains in cyber and outer space, and the threats posed by climate change, have increased both the potential catastrophic impact of nuclear weapons, and the likelihood of a nuclear detonation, whether by intent, miscalculation, or accident.
Clearly the existence of nuclear weapons does not, in fact, foster peace but rather increases the risk of nuclear catastrophe.
In 2017, a conference of the United Nations adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) [8] as a legally binding treaty prohibiting signatories from participating in any nuclear weapons activities, with the goal of eventually leading to their total elimination.
The question often asked is how effective such a ban on nuclear weapons will be, given that states that already possess nuclear weapons are unlikely to sign the treaty. ICAN argues it effectivity lies in eliminating the normalising of nuclear weapons because “as long as nuclear weapons are seen as important and legitimate, it will encourage proliferation and maintenance of current arsenals” and vice versa.
To date, 70 nations have ratified the treaty, including Kiribati and the Philippines, but neither Japan nor Australia has signed it.[9]
Those who negotiated and signed the treaty can surely be seen to be embodying St Benedict’s call to “seek peace and pursue it”[10] in a sign of hope in the future of our world. Hope is classified as one of the Theological Virtues of Christianity, though some have argued that it is the forgotten virtue of our time.[11]
As Good Samaritans we committed ourselves at our 2023 Chapter to “living our relationship with God, neighbour and the universe through… hope which empowers mission”. Perhaps hope is the most radical gift we can offer our neighbour today.
*Good Samaritan Sister Marella Rebgetz is the Congregational Delegate for Ecological Conversion and lives in Townsville. Her professional background is in physics and engineering.
Footnotes
[1] See Pope Francis discusses ‘ecological conversion’ with Buddhist monks from Cambodia | Catholic News Agency (accessed 6/09/2024)
[2] Xia, L., Robock, A., Scherrer, K. et al. Global food insecurity and famine from reduced crop, marine fishery and livestock production due to climate disruption from nuclear war soot injection. Nat Food 3, 586–596 (2022).
[3] The U.S.A. claims that “Our nuclear deterrent underwrites all U.S. military operations and diplomacy across the globe. It is the backstop and foundation of our national defense”. 4 Things to Know About the U.S. Nuclear Deterrence Strategy > U.S. Department of Defense > Defense Department News. (accessed 6/09/2024)
[4] Disarmament Now Only Viable Path to Vanquish Senseless, Suicidal Shadow of Nuclear War, Secretary-General Tells Security Council, Outlining Six Steps for Non-Proliferation | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases (accessed 6/09/2024)
[5] Today’s Armed Conflicts – The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (geneva-academy.ch) (accessed 6/09/2024)
[6] Current Time – 2024 – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (thebulletin.org) (accessed 6/09/2024)
[7] ICAN is a coalition of civil society organisations in over 100 countries working towards a world free of nuclear weapons. Founded in Melbourne, Australia, ICAN was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.
[9] ICAN – International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (icanw.org) (accessed 6/09/2024)
[10] RB Prol: 17
[11] https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2016/11/07/hope-forgotten-virtue-our-time (accessed 6/09/2024)
