During his historic visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 2019, Pope Francis declared that "the use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral, just as the possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral."

The Pontiff said the world "must never grow weary of working to support the principal international legal instruments of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, including the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons."

Francis' pronouncement was clear: The very possession of nuclear weapons is immoral! Therefore, if it is wrong for followers of Jesus to possess nuclear weapons, then it is equally wrong to build and modernize them, let alone use them.

In his 1976 World Day of Peace Message, Pope Paul VI described the atomic bombings of Japan as "a butchery of untold magnitude." During the ceremony that awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Setsuko Thurlow, Hiroshima survivor and ICAN member, spoke these words in her acceptance speech:

“I speak as a member of the family of hibakusha — those of us who, by some miraculous chance, survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For more than seven decades, we have worked for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. We were not content to be victims. We refused to wait for an immediate fiery end or the slow poisoning of our world. We refused to sit idly in terror as the so-called great powers took us past nuclear dusk and brought us recklessly close to nuclear midnight. We rose up. We shared our stories of survival. We said: humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist.

“Today, I want you to feel in this hall the presence of all those who perished in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I want you to feel, above and around us, a great cloud of a quarter-million souls. Each person had a name. Each person was loved by someone. Let us ensure that their deaths were not in vain.  The development of nuclear weapons signifies not a country's elevation to greatness, but its descent to the darkest depths of depravity. These weapons are not a necessary evil; they are the ultimate evil.”

In the U.S., a nation that has legally sanctioned the use of nuclear weapons and relies on them for its ultimate security, what would Jesus have us do? Clearly, Jesus teaches that we must place our trust in God, not in the nuclear idol, for our true security. He calls us to disarm our hearts of fear, hate, racism and greed. He instructs us to forever put away the sword, love unconditionally and renounce all killing.

Due to the existential threats posed by both nuclear weapons and the climate crisis, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has now turned its Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds before midnight. The U.S. possesses nearly 5,500 nuclear weapons, many of which are on hair-trigger alert. The U.S. refuses to adopt a no-first use policy.

With the very future of human survival and our planet's existence at stake, how can we avert global catastrophe and make disarmament a reality for our time? First and foremost, we must have the faith, courage, and will to believe that total nuclear disarmament can occur. If we are to take seriously the magnitude of the nuclear threat and the admonitions of Francis and the hibakusha, we must risk taking action that is commensurate with the colossal threat we face.

Can followers of Jesus be employed in nuclear weapons-related work? Christians who work to produce and upgrade nuclear weapons, or who are otherwise involved in their potential use today face a serious faith and moral dilemma. The following insights from Catholic peacemakers serve to counsel us on this matter.

Jesuit Fr. Richard McSorley stated: "It's a sin to build a nuclear weapon. We cannot seriously imagine Jesus pushing the button to launch a nuclear bomb, or registering for the draft, or wearing the uniform of any national state, or paying taxes for nuclear weapons, or working in a plant that manufactures weapons of death."

The late Bishop Leroy Matthiesen of Amarillo, Texas, told the Catholics in his diocese who worked at the nearby Pantex nuclear weapons plant: "In the name of the God of peace, quit your jobs." In making this appeal, he said he would offer financial assistance to any defense workers who would quit their jobs.

And the late Seattle Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen asserted: "I say with deep sorrow that our nuclear war preparations are the global crucifixion of Jesus. Our nuclear weapons are the final crucifixion of Jesus, in the extermination of the human family with whom he is one. We have to refuse to give incense — in our day, tax dollars — to our nuclear idol."

The nuclear challenge before us is great but not insurmountable, for with God, and people acting on their faith convictions, all things are possible.