The existence of nuclear weapons creates a false sense of security that holds international relations hostage and stifles peaceful coexistence, Pope Francis has said. “The threat of their use as well as their very possession is to be firmly condemned,” the Pope told participants at a conference on nuclear disarmament hosted by the Vatican. For decades, popes and bishops have said that the policy of nuclear deterrence could be morally acceptable as long as real work was underway on a complete ban of the weapons. In condemning possession of the weapons, Pope Francis seemed to be expressing a stronger opinion than his predecessors. Nuclear weapons “exist in the service of a mentality of fear that affects not only the parties in conflict but the entire human race”, he said. The conference, sponsored by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, brought together 11 Nobel laureates and officials from the United Nations and NATO as well as diplomats and experts in nuclear weapons and the disarmament process. Several speakers, including Masako Wada, one of the last survivors of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, discussed the suffering wrought by nuclear arms. Pope Francis told the group that the “essential” witness of survivors of the bombings in Japan, as well as those suffering the effects of nuclear weapons testing, offer prophetic voices that serve “as a warning, above all for coming generations”. In his speech, the Pope said that when it came to the ideal of a nuclear-free world, a “certain pessimism” existed and brought with it “considerable expense” as nations modernised their nuclear arsenals. “As a result, the real priorities facing our human family, such as the fight against poverty, the promotion of peace, the undertaking of educational, ecological and health-care projects, and the development of human rights, are relegated to second place.” Pope Francis said that the existence of weapons whose use would result in the destruction of humanity was “senseless even from a tactical standpoint”. What is more, he said, there was the growing danger that the weapons or weapon technology could fall into the wrong hands. “The resulting scenarios are deeply disturbing if we consider the challenges of contemporary geopolitics, like terrorism or asymmetric warfare,” he said.