Abstract
Religious leaders can act as norm-builders in global policymaking due to their prominence in civil society and their access to social capital. This role is reflected in the preamble to the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which is unique in acknowledging religious leaders in its preamble. The authors argue while the role of religion in international diplomacy is often ignored, the formal recognition of the role of religion in the TPNW reflects a long and ongoing history of faith-based action on nuclear disarmament. The chapter focuses on the role of religious groups in the TPNW’s negotiations, including advocacy with the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), and the diplomatic efforts of the Holy See.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Other religious and faith-based member organizations of ICAN include: including Christian CND, Soka Gakkai International, the World Council of Churches, Pax Christi, Religious Society of Friends-Canada, Quaker Peace and Social Witness, Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International sRelations and World Student Christian Federation Norway. Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Africa Council of Religious Leaders, Christian Council of Nigeria, Centre Quakers International-France, Anglican Church of Canada, Canadian Quakers, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Anglican Diocese of Gippsland, Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, Baptist Union of Victoria, Catholics in Coalition of Justice and Peace, and the Uniting Church in Australia (National Assembly, Western Australia-Social Justice Board, Justice and International Mission Unit). This list reflects the membership in January 2018. For an updated list, see http://www.icanw.org/campaign/partner-organizations/.
- 2.
Interviewees and correspondents include: Sister Carol Gilbert, Anna Ikeda, Kimiaki Kawai, Jasmin Nario-Galace, Sister Ardeth Platte, Hideaki Yanashima, and Mary Yelenik.
- 3.
The authors are particularly grateful for the efforts of Kimiaki Kawai, Anna Ikeda and Hideaki Yanashima for their assistance with this section.
- 4.
Ephemera in possession of the authors.
- 5.
These statements are available in WCC archives.
- 6.
However, it is important to note that this strategy is not necessarily shared by all chapters of Pax Christi. The President of Pax Christi-Pilipinas noted in her interview that she does not use faith in an explicit way when interacting with diplomats.
- 7.
Ephemera in possession of the authors.
- 8.
For a fuller analysis of the role of faith-based advocacy during the NPT, see: Welty (2016).
- 9.
In addition to the statements referenced here, Lynnet Ngayu (2017) of African Council of Religious Leaders also delivered one of the ICAN statements which was not faith-based but which reflected the partnership of faith-based organizations within ICAN.
Bibliography
Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy of the Presbyterian Church USA (ACSWP). (2011). Gun Violence, Gospel Values: Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call. Louisville, KY: ACSWP.
Appleby, S. (2000). The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence and Reconciliation. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Appleby, S. (2015). Religious Violence: The Strong, the Weak and the Pathological. In A. Omer & R. S. Appleby (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding (pp. 33–57). New York: Oxford University Press.
Atwood, H. (2017). How Buddhists Helped ICAN Win the Nobel Peace Prize. Lion’s Roar. Retrieved from https://www.lionsroar.com/ican-partnered-with-sgi-wins-2017-nobel-peace-prize-for-work-toward-abolition-of-nuclear-weapons/.
Atwood, J. (2012). America and Its Guns: A Theological Expose. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
Atwood, J. (2017). Gundamentalism and Where It Is Taking America. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
Auza, B. (2017). Intervention of H.E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza. Retrieved from https://holyseemission.org/contents//statements/58de5b87ac57e.php.
Barberis, P., McHugh, J., & Tyldesley, M. (2000). Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Group and Movements of the Twentieth Century. London: Pinter.
Bedford-Strohm, H. (2015). Something New After 70 Years: A Way Forward Together. Retrieved from https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/central-committee/something-new-after-70-years-a-way-forward-together.
Bercovitch, J., & Kadayifci-Orellana, A. (2009). Religion and Mediation: The Role of Faith-Based Actors in International Conflict Resolution. International Negotiation, 14(2009), 175–204.
Berrigan, D. (2001). The Raft Is Not the Shore: Conversations Toward a Buddhist-Christian Awareness. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
Bhikkhu, B. (2009). Maha Ghosananda: The Buddha of the Battlefield. Bangkok: S.R. Printing Co.
Bolton, M. (2017). Ensuring the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty Is a Humanitarian Treaty. Nuclear Ban Daily, 1(1), 3. Retrieved from http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/nuclear-weapon-ban/reports/NBD1.1.pdf.
Bordoni, L. (2017). Pope Prays for Missing Fisherman, Appeal for Nuclear Disarmament and Human Rights. Vatican News. Retrieved from http://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2017-12/pope-angelus-appeal-nuclear-climate-india-fishermen.html.
Castro, E. (1989, June 22). Message from the World Council of Churches to the International Meeting on Nuclear Free Zones. In WCC Archives. Geneva: Switzerland.
Chernus, I. (1986). Dr. Strangegod: On the Symbolic Meaning of Nuclear Weapons. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.
Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. (2015). Nuclear Weapons: What Can Christians Do? A Guide for the Churches. London, UK: Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Retrieved from https://wp.christiancnd.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/CCND-Churches-Guide.pdf.
Cismas, I. (2017). Reflections on the Presence and Absence of Religious Actors in Transitional Justice Processes: On Legitimacy and Accountability. In R. Duthie & P. Seils (Eds.), Justice Mosaics: How Context Shapes Transitional Justice in Fractured Societies (pp. 302–343). New York: International Centre for Transitional Justice.
Cismas, I., & Heffes, E. (2017). Can Religious Leaders Play a Role in Enhancing Compliance with IHL? Humanitarian Law and Policy. Retrieved from http://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/2017/12/20/can-religious-leaders-play-a-role-in-enhancing-compliance-with-ihl-2/.
Colecchi, S. (2017). Towards Preliminary Conclusions. Speech Delivered November 11, 2017, Vatican City. Ephemera in Possession of the Authors.
Coward, H., & Smith, G. (Eds.). (2004). Religion and Peacebuilding. New York: State University of New York Press.
Day, D. (1945/1975). We Go on Record: The CW Response to Hiroshima. The Catholic Worker. Retrieved from https://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/554.html.
Day, G., & Robbins, D. (1987). Activists for Peace: The Social Basis of a Local Peace Movement. In C. Creighton & M. Shaw (Eds.), The Sociology of War and Peace (pp. 218–236). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Deneulin, S. (2009). Religion in Development: Rewriting the Secular Script. London: Zed Books.
Epstein, B. (1991). Political Protest and Cultural Revolution: Nonviolent Direct Action in the 1970s and 1980s. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Faith Communities Concerned About Nuclear Weapons. (2017). Public Statement on the Adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Faith Communities Concerned About Nuclear Weapons. Retrieved from https://www.sgi.org/resources/ngo-resources/peace-disarmament/statements/ptnw-joint-statement-july-2017.html.
Faith Communities on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons. (2014). Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons. Retrieved from https://www.sgi.org/content/files/in-focus/2014/HINW14-Statement-Faith-Communities.pdf.
Firth, S. (1987). Nuclear Playground. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Francis. (2014). Message to the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons. Retrieved from https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pont-messages/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20141207_messaggio-conferenza-vienna-nucleare.html.
Francis. (2017). Message of Pope Francis to the UN Conference to Negotiate a Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. Retrieved from https://holyseemission.org/contents//statements/58da6612307d5.php.
Gallagher, P. R. (2017). Statement of the Holy See on the Occasion of the Tenth Conference to Facilitate the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Retrieved from https://holyseemission.org/contents//statements/59c2d12e3a3dd.php.
Gopin, M. (2000). Between Eden and Armageddon: The Future of World Religions, Violence and Peacemaking. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ikeda, D. (2009). Building Global Solidarity Toward Nuclear Abolition. Retrieved from http://www.sgi.org/about-us/president-ikedas-proposals/nuclear-abolition-proposal-2009.html.
Jesuit Refugee Service Cambodia (JRS). (2012). People We Met Along the Way. Phnom Penh: JRS.
Johnston, D. (Ed.). (2003). Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Johnston, D., & Sampson, C. (1994). Religion: The Missing Dimension of Statecraft. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kawai, K. (2016). Statement by on Behalf of Soka Gakkai International (SGI). Retrieved from http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/OEWG/2016/Statements/04May_SGI.pdf.
Kawai, K. (2017). Statement by Kimiaki Kawai on behalf of Soka Gakkai International. Retrieved from http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/nuclear-weapon-ban/statements/29March_SGI.pdf.
King, M. L. (1964). Nobel Peace Prize Lecture. Retrieved from https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1964/king/lecture/.
King, M. L. (1967). Beyond Vietnam. Retrieved from https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/beyond-vietnam.
Lederach, J. P. (1997). Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press.
Mandaville, P., & Silvestri, S. (2015, January). Integrating Religious Engagement into Diplomacy: Challenges and Opportunities. Issues in Governance Studies, 67, 1–13.
Mante, R. (2017). Divesting from Warfare. Amalgamated Bank Blog. Retrieved from https://www.amalgamatedbank.com/blog#divesting_from_warfare.
Maclellan, N. (2005). The Nuclear Age in the Pacific Islands. The Contemporary Pacific, 17(2), 363–372.
Nario-Galace, J. (2017). Public Statement to the First Negotiation Conference for a Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons Leading to Their Elimination Faith Communities Concerned About Nuclear Weapons. Retrieved from http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/nuclear-weapon-ban/statements/28March_FaithCommunities.pdf.
National Council of Churches USA (NCC). (2010). Ending Gun Violence. Retrieved from http://nationalcouncilofchurches.us/common-witness/2010/gun-violence.php.
Nepstad, S. E. (2004). Persistent Resistance: Commitment and Community in the Plowshares Movement. Social Problems, 51(1), 43–60.
Nepstad, S. E. (2008). Religion and War Resistance in the Plowshares Movement (p. 2008). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Ngayu, L. (2017). Cluster 1: Preamble UN Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading Towards Their Total Elimination. Retrieved from http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/nuclear-weapon-ban/statements/16June_ICAN.pdf.
Omer, A. (2015). Religious Peacebuilding: The Exotic, the Good and the Theatrical. In A. Omer & R. S. Appleby (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding (pp. 3–32). New York: Oxford University Press.
Parliament of the World’s Religions. (2018). Responding to the Unique Challenge of Nuclear Weapons: A Passionate Call From The Parliament of the World’s Religions. Retrieved from https://parliamentofreligions.org/blog/2018-11-29-1140/responding-unique-challenge-nuclear-weapons-passionate-call-parliament-world%E2%80%99s.
Pihaatae, F. (2014). A United Pacific Voice to Ban Nuclear Weapons. In N. Maclellan, Nuclear Weapons: A Pacific Islands Perspective (p. 5). Geneva: International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Potter, P. (1978). Statement by Rev. Dr Philip Potter, WCC General Secretary, to the Ad Hoc Committee of the X Special Session on Disarmament of the UN General Assembly, 12 June 1978. In WCC Archives. Geneva: Switzerland.
Religions for Peace. (2010). Arms Down! Retrieved from https://armsdown.net/.
Religions for Peace. (2016). A Nuclear Weapon-Free World Our Common Good. Retrieved from http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/OEWG/2016/Statements/24Feb_ReligionsforPeace.pdf.
Religious Society of Friends in Britain. (2019). Our Peace Testimony. In Quaker Faith and Practice. Retrieved from https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/24/.
Reynolds, E. (1961). The Forbidden Voyage. Westport: Greenwood Press.
Rutherford, K. (2011). Disarming States: The International Movement to Ban Landmines. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Said, A. A., Funk, N., & Kadayifci, A. (Eds.). (2001). Peace and Conflict Resolution in Islam: Precept and Practice. New York: University Press of America.
Smock, D. (Ed.). (2006). Religious Contributions to Peacemaking: When Religion Brings Peace, Not War. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace.
Soka Gakkai Internatonal (SGI). (2019). People’s Decade for Nuclear Abolition: Motivation. Retrieved from https://www.peoplesdecade.org/decade/motivation/.
The Nuclear Resister. (2017). Nineteen Nuclear Disarmament Activists Arrested Blockading U.S. Mission to the U.N. Retrieved from http://www.nukeresister.org/2017/06/22/nineteen-nuclear-disarmament-activists-arrested-blockading-u-s-mission-to-the-u-n/.
Tobey, K. (2017). Plowshares: Protest, Performance and Religious Identity in the Nuclear Age. University Park: Penn State University Press.
Toda, J. (1957). Declaration Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons. Retrieved from http://www.joseitoda.org/vision/declaration/read/.
Toft, M. D., Philpott, D., & Shah, T. S. (2011). God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics. New York: Norton.
United Nations. (2011). Testimonies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Women Speak Out for Peace [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwdx7HjV6is.
United Nations Fund for Population (UNFPA). (2014). Religion and Development Post-2015. New York: UNFPA.
United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect (UNOGPRP). (2018). Plan of Action for Religious Leaders and Actors to Prevent Incitement to Violence that Could Lead to Atrocity Crimes. New York: United Nations.
Wallis, T. (2017). Nuclear Weapons: Frequently Asked Questions. Quaker Peace and Social Witness. Retrieved from https://quaker-prod.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/store/1237360ecdc7f914d92203a32c4d07771481b73bc970a71606b01be45148.
Welty, E. (2016). The Theological Landscape of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty: The Catholic Church, the World Council of Churches and the Bomb. Global Policy, 7(3), 396–404.
Welty, E. (2017). Strengthening the Preamble’s Humanitarian, Human Rights, Environmental and Sustainable Development Foundations for Positive Obligations. Retrieved from http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/nuclear-weapon-ban/statements/16June_WCC.pdf.
World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee. (1950). Statement on the Hydrogen Bomb. In WCC Archives. Geneva: Switzerland.
WCC Executive Committee. (1967). Declaration “Support for a Non-proliferation Treaty.” Windsor, England. In WCC Archives. Geneva: Switzerland.
WCC Executive Committee. (2004). Statement on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In WCC Archives. Geneva: Switzerland.
World Council of Churches (WCC). (2015). WCC Pilgrims Remember Atom Bomb’s Deadly Destruction 70 Years Ago in Hiroshima. Retrieved from https://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/wcc-pilgrims-remember-atom-bomb2019s-deadly-destruction-70-years-ago-in-hiroshima.
World Council of Churches (WCC). (2016). Intervention, Day 3, OEWG 28-2-16 jf/WCC. Retrieved from http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/OEWG/2016/Statements/24Feb_WCC.pdf.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Welty, E., with Gabrielle Chalk. (2020). Religious Advocacy and Activism for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. In: Bolton, M., Njeri, S., Benjamin-Britton, T. (eds) Global Activism and Humanitarian Disarmament. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27611-9_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27611-9_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-27610-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-27611-9
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)