NEW YORK – As the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons takes place at the U.N. headquarters this week, Archbishop John Wester says that in order for the treaty to have any “teeth” the nuclear states have to get on board.

“The countries without nuclear weapons can sign it, and that’s good because they’re committing not to ever develop nuclear weapons, but we have to get the countries that have them to get rid of them, and that’s a tough deal, of course, but we have to keep working for it,” Wester told Crux. “You have to get the nuclear states to sign this treaty for it to have any real impact.”

The nuclear states – states with nuclear weapons – are led by the United States and Russia, who each have more than 5,000 nuclear warheads. China is a distant third with just north of 400 nuclear warheads. Recently, however, President Donald Trump said he wants to hold denuclearization talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Xi of China, saying that “there’s no need for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons, we already have so many.”

Wester, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and a leading Catholic voice on nuclear disarmament, said he is aware of Trump’s comments, and hopes the sentiment is sincere.

“There isn’t a lot I agree with President Trump on, but I do agree with him on that,” Wester said. “I don’t know what his motivation is, but as long as the end result would be reducing nuclear weapons I’m happy. That’s great. … I just hope he’s doing it for the right reasons because it’s going to need the right reasons to be persuasive to the other countries.”

Wester spoke to Crux on March 4 after celebrating a Mass for the abolition of nuclear weapons at the Church of Our Saviour in Manhattan. The Mass was sponsored by the Dorothy Day Guild, Pax Christi USA New York, New York Catholic Worker, Sts. Francis and Therese Catholic Worker in Worcester, Massachusetts; IMCS-Pax Romana, and the Dorothy Day Center at Manhattan University.

It was organized as a side event to the U.N. meeting. Earlier in the day, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, addressed the meeting, telling those in attendance that “it is the collective responsibility of the international community to ensure that the atrocities of the past are not repeated.”

Caccia said that geopolitical divisions and tensions around the world have created a troubling situation.

“This growing sense of mistrust and fear is having a detrimental effect on international relations, with the result that the disarmament architecture is being severely undermined, while military expenditures are rising dramatically,” Caccia said.

“Too many states are increasingly redirecting valuable resources towards military stockpiling, funds that could instead be used to tackle urgent global challenges, including poverty and hunger,” he said. “This shift in priorities is deeply concerning, as it diverts attention from the fundamental need for human integral development and peace.”

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has been signed by 94 countries and ratified by 73 state parties since it was adopted in 2017. It went into effect in 2021. In addition to the United States, Russia and China, Great Britain, France, India, and Pakistan – other nuclear states – have not signed on.

The Holy See was the first to sign the treaty, which includes a set of prohibitions on participating in any nuclear weapons activities. These include developing, testing, producing, acquiring, possessing, stockpiling, and, of course, using nuclear weapons.

Wester said the Church continues to have a crucial voice on the issue as a moral authority in society.

“I think the Church has a lot of influence to sway hearts.” Wester said. “The Church has power not just because of the pope and the magisterium, but also because of the people.”

“The Church is the people, and people have a voice, and they have a right and responsibility to speak out against nuclear weapons,” he noted. “Sometimes people say it should be left to the leaders. Well, we tried that. It didn’t work, and so we’ve got to have people speaking out.”

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