Vatican Observer to the UN Says Illegal Arms Trafficking Sustains Conflicts

In an interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, applauded the Holy Father’s recent comments on the illegal trafficking of arms.

During his weekly Sunday Angelus address the Holy Father questioned whether conflicts in today’s world are over real problems or if it is “a commercial war to sell illegal weapons.”

“The Holy Father has put a finger on a real problem that is affecting the international community today. It is not a new problem but it is a real one in the sense that the illegal trafficking of arms becomes a major factor that contributes to violence and to wars,” Archbishop Tomasi said.

The illegal provision of arms, he continued, gives those who abuse their power to prevent the development of their own countries.

The Vatican’s Permanent Observer to the UN stated that Pope Francis rightly underlined that weapons proliferation have “sustained the continuation of conflicts around the world,  giving those who use them  the false assurance that “they can continue to use force to maintain their power.”

“If we take into account the fact that $1,750 billion have been spent last year for military activities, we see that all these resources are for defense, yes, but also for trade in arms and this kind of resources the international community could use for social development and for [...] education, food, especially in the needier segments of the world.