Nuclear Treaty Expiration and Catholic Social Teaching

This episode is about the recent expiration of the New START nuclear weapons treaty between the United States and Russia, with no new agreement on the horizon, and how this situation looks from the perspective of Catholic Social Teaching. 

Here are references and additional resources.

1. Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals could expand for the first time in three decades.  Feb 3, 2026
2. The U.S. Needs to do Something about New START.  Posted on the American Security Project website Jan 26, 2026
3. Which Countries Have Nuclear Weapons?  Nuclear arsenals by country
4. The US and Russia’s nuclear weapons treaty is set to expire. Here’s what’s at stake Analysis January 26, 2026
5. Catechism of the Catholic Church scroll down to sections 2314-2315
6. Lapse of last US-Russia nuclear treaty ‘simply unacceptable,’ says Archbishop Coakley February 3, 2026
7. What does the Catholic Church teach about nuclear weapons?  Aug 19, 2020  Good summary of papal and bishop conference statements from 1954-2020
8. Pope Leo XIV, bishops commemorate 80th anniversary of atomic bombing of Japan  Aug 6, 2025
9. Statements from US Conference of Catholic Bishops on nuclear deterrence:  1983 Pastoral Letter on War and Peace, scroll down to page 2 section I.B.;  1993 10th Anniversary Reflection, scroll down to section II.E.1.1.
10. 1998 Statement signed by 75 US Catholic Bishops (but not the entire USCCB) stating that the conditions for the moral acceptance of nuclear deterrence are not being met
11. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes

How to contact the the President   https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ or call: 202-456-1111

How to contact your U.S. Senator or U.S. Congressperson:  https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member 

Transcript

Welcome to “Headline News and Catholic Social Teaching,” where we take a brief look at stories in the news, not from a left or right political perspective, but through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching.  I’m your host, Tom Mulhern, and my hope is that this podcast will help us grow in our love of God and love of our neighbors.  

This episode is about the recent expiration of the New START nuclear weapons treaty between the United States and Russia, with no new agreement on the horizon, and how this situation looks from the perspective of Catholic Social Teaching.  

So here’s the story.  On February 4, 2026, something called the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (or New START) expired. That means that this is the first time since the early 1970s that there are no legally binding limits on US and Russian strategic nuclear forces, with no new agreement in place or under negotiation.

New START was originally signed in 2011 for a 10-year period, then it was renewed in 2021 for a 5-year extension.  Russia suggested an additional 1-year extension last fall, and while the US expressed some interest in that idea, it hasn’t happened.  So the treaty has expired.

While President Trump has indicated that he’d like to maintain the limits set in New START, he has not expressed a sense of urgency about this issue, saying in a recent interview “If it expires, it expires,” and claiming, “We’ll just do a better agreement.”  The Trump Administration has also insisted that China should be involved in any new nuclear arms control agreement.

For its part, China says that it is neither fair nor reasonable to expect China to participate in arms control negotiations with the US and Russia, given the current disparity in nuclear capabilities.  China currently has around 600 nuclear warheads; the US and Russia each have more than 5,000 nuclear warheads.  

Further complicating this picture, the US recently accused China of conducting secret nuclear weapons tests.  China has denied these accusations and says that it continues to observe international agreements banning nuclear weapons testing.

So here we are in mid-February 2026, and both Russia and the United States seem to agree that new arms control negotiations need to happen, but if anything is actually happening on that front, it is taking place well out of the public eye.

Experts point out many dangers associated with not having an arms control agreement.  First and foremost is the prospect of a new and unconstrained nuclear arms buildup, at enormous cost to all participants.  A second danger is that the absence of limits and verification procedures increases the risks of miscommunication and misunderstanding in a time of crisis, with potentially catastrophic consequences.  A third danger is that the removal of nuclear weapons limits on the US and Russia weakens the argument for restraint by China and other nuclear powers.  

Put simply, not having an agreement in place destabilizes the global strategic landscape and poses a threat to peace everywhere.

When we look at Catholic teaching, we find, not surprisingly, that Church teaching is opposed to the use of nuclear weapons.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation."

The Catechism goes on to state: 

A danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opportunity to those who possess modern scientific weapons - especially atomic, biological, or chemical weapons - to commit such crimes. End quote

These statements from the Catechism reflect longstanding Catholic Social teaching on the use of force, which requires that any use of force be proportionate and discriminate, that it must not produce more harm than good, that it must respect noncombatant immunity and protect civilians.  The use of nuclear weapons is incompatible with these criteria.

As we might expect, Catholic leaders have responded to the expiration of New START with great concern.

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, current president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a statement issued on February 3, 2026, said, “The dangers posed by current conflicts around the world, including the devastating war in Ukraine, make the forthcoming expiration of New START simply unacceptable.”  

In his statement, Archbishop Coakley referenced recent comments from Pope Leo about the importance of renewing the New START agreement.  The Pope returned to this topic again at the end of his Feb 4 public audience, when he said “The current situation requires that everything possible be done to avert a new arms race that would further threaten peace among nations.”

These comments are the latest in a long line of Church teaching on nuclear weapons, teaching that has focused on the protection of human life, the recognition that true peace is based on justice rather than power, and the need to place moral constraints on the use of force. 

I’ll share a few examples of past statements from Catholic leaders here, with a more complete article in the notes.

In proclaiming the first annual World Day of Peace on January 1, 1968, Pope St. Paul the 6th spoke against “frightful weapons of extermination” and the expenditure of “enormous financial” resources that “hinder(s) the development of so many other peoples.”

In 2003, Pope St. John Paul the Second said “‘NO TO WAR!’ War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity.” and he called out “those who still place their trust in nuclear weapons.”

Pope Benedict the 16th and Pope Francis made similar comments on a number of occasions, and Pope Leo, in a letter that was read in Hiroshima last August, on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing, said 

“True peace demands the courageous laying down of weapons — especially those with the power to cause an indescribable catastrophe.  Nuclear arms offend our shared humanity and also betray the dignity of creation, whose harmony we are called to safeguard.” end quote

Clearly, Catholic teaching has consistently opposed the use of nuclear weapons.  Church teaching on nuclear deterrence, however, has been more nuanced.  Deterrence is the idea that possessing nuclear weapons and the potential to use them can help maintain peace by deterring an aggressor from launching an attack.  In 1982, Pope St. John Paul the Second made the following statement:  “In current conditions ‘deterrence’ based on balance, certainly not as an end in itself but as a step on the way toward a progressive disarmament, may still be judged morally acceptable.”

This position was reflected in the US Bishops statement on nuclear weapons issued a year later, in 1983, and it is still at least implied in what is stated (and what is not stated) in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  However, given the fact that, four decades later, there have been very few steps toward progressive disarmament, and many more steps to institutionalize deterrence by maintaining and modernizing nuclear arsenals, there are a number of voices within the Church questioning whether deterrence can still be judged morally acceptable.  I’ll put links in the notes with more details on nuclear deterrence and Church teaching.

And while the morality of nuclear deterrence is an important question that will continue to be discussed, I think that talking about the morality of deterrence should not distract us from the key focus of Church teaching on nuclear weapons, which is, a call for progressive disarmament, that is, a progressive reduction in nuclear weapons leading ultimately to their elimination and abolition.

And, seen in that light, what really needs to happen right now is that the US and Russia need to negotiate a new nuclear arms control agreement.  If they can pull in China and other smaller nuclear powers, that would be great, but if that’s not on the table, the US and Russia have a responsibility to the world to move forward with a new treaty.  

Such agreements are never perfect, but the current absence of any agreement means that the world is in a more dangerous place.  And, what I find particularly troubling, is that this issue is not generating the kind of public attention that it should.  It hit the news cycle for a few days when New START expired, and now the news media has moved on to other things.  To paraphrase Archbishop Coakley, this is unacceptable!

So I encourage each of us to contact the President and our Senators and Representatives, and let them know that a nuclear arms control agreement is an important priority that needs urgent attention.  My guess is that they are not hearing from many of their constituents on this issue, and people of faith need to speak up.  There is information in the notes for how to send these messages.

I also encourage all of us to persevere in praying for peace.

Here’s a quote from the 1993 statement from the US Bishops on nuclear weapons: it says

“Given the effects of sin, our efforts to live in peace with one another depend on our openness to God's healing grace and the unifying power of Christ's redemption.”  If I may restate that in the form of a prayer, may our prayers for peace make us and the fallen world we live in open to God’s healing grace and the unifying power of Christ’s redemption.

OK, it’s time to wrap up this episode of “Headline News and Catholic Social Teaching.”  If you found it worthwhile, I invite you to share it with others.  If you want to learn more about me or the podcast, I encourage you to listen to Episode 1 Introduction or visit the podcast website.  If you’d like to make a comment or send me a message, there’s a link in the notes that will enable you to send a text message.

And I do hope that, in some small way, this episode might help us live our lives guided by the Holy Spirit through the teachings of the Church.  

Thank you for listening.