A leading Vatican diplomat described as “particularly troubling” the “renewed prominence of nuclear weapons in strategic doctrines and rhetoric contemplating their possible use, as well as in the gradual erosion of the arms control and disarmament architecture that has been built up over decades.”
Addressing a UN meeting, Archbishop Christophe-Zakhia El-Kassis, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said on September 29 that “the progressive integration of artificial intelligence into nuclear systems introduces an additional layer of risk. By compressing decision-making timelines and introducing new sources of error and opacity, these technologies may increase the risk of escalation and miscalculation while putting greater pressure on human judgment.”
The prelate reiterated the Holy See’s “strong support” for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (2017) and the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (1996). The United States and other leading nuclear powers are not parties to either treaty.