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VATICAN CITY, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Pope Francis called on Monday for all nations to support dialog to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and to work for a legally binding ban on nuclear weapons.

“Nuclear weapons must be banned,” Francis said, quoting a document issued by Pope John XXIII at the height of the Cold War and adding that there is “no denying that the conflagration could be started by some chance and unforeseen circumstance.”

He noted that the Holy See was among 122 states that last year agreed to a United Nations treaty to ban nuclear weapons. The United States, Britain, France and others boycotted the talks that led to the treaty, instead pledging commitment to a decades-old Non-Proliferation Treaty.

“It is of paramount importance to support every effort at dialog on the Korean peninsula, in order to find new ways of overcoming the current disputes, increasing mutual trust and ensuring a peaceful future for the Korean people and the entire world,” Francis said, addressing the nuclear crisis between North Korea and the United States.

• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-diplomats/pope-in-state-of-world-speech-urges-dialogue-in-korea-nuclear-ban-idUSKBN1EX0UG

• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Pope_Francis_on_the_Environment

• https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Nuclear_Nonproliferation

January 2018

Pope warns world is one step away from nuclear war

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