Eighty-one years after the United States unleashed atomic destruction on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world finds itself in a deeply troubling nuclear landscape. Arms control agreements are collapsing, diplomatic efforts are failing, and global nuclear risk is at its highest in decades. The recent expiration of the New START Treaty, a critical U.S.-Russia agreement that governed nuclear weapons for over half a century, signals a worrying end to major nuclear oversight. In the same time frame, spending on nuclear arsenals has surged, climbing by nearly 20 percent last year alone. This spending is not just about maintaining existing weapons, but also modernizing and expanding them, a troubling direction for global security.
In May 2025, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) — a cornerstone of international nuclear policy — failed again to reach consensus on a key document. This marks the third failure in 16 years, highlighting the struggle to fulfill one of the treaty’s core goals: disarmament. Meanwhile, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which tracks global risks, moved the symbolic Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds to midnight in January 2025. This is the closest it has ever been to the apocalyptic marker, a stark reminder of the precarious state of global safety.
Despite these alarming developments, many governments continue to rely on the concept of nuclear deterrence — the idea that keeping weapons ready prevents their use. However, public opinion is shifting. A 2025 YouGov poll found that 69 percent of Americans believe nuclear weapons make the world a more dangerous place. Yet, despite growing public concern, politicians and policy makers show little progress in pursuing arms control or disarmament efforts. The lack of action has left many faith leaders stepping in, calling for greater attention to nuclear risks and advocating for a world without such destructive weapons.
Faith in Disarmament
Religious opposition to nuclear weapons is as old as the weapons themselves. Just two weeks after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945, a group of religious and educational leaders publicly condemned the action as an unprecedented atrocity. These early voices set the stage for a long history of faith-based anti-nuclear advocacy.
Pope Pius XII was one of the first religious leaders to openly denounce nuclear weapons. In his 1955 Christmas radio message, he called for the abandonment of such weapons. Decades later, Pope Francis took a bold step, declaring in 2017 that the mere possession of nuclear weapons is wrong. That same year, the Holy See became one of the first nations to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), a landmark agreement that has now been supported by the majority of countries.
Nuclear Risk in the Santa Fe Archdiocese
In the United States, the Catholic Church has also become a powerful voice for disarmament. Archbishop John Wester, who leads the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, is at the forefront of this movement. His diocese is located in the heart of the U.S. nuclear infrastructure, a region deeply affected by nuclear development and contamination. The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, based in the area, is one of many community groups advocating for justice and compensation for those harmed by nuclear testing and contamination.
Wester explained to Truthout that people in his diocese have long suffered the consequences of nuclear weapon development. “We’ve certainly had a great preponderance of injury by nuclear weapon development.” These health impacts include elevated cancer rates and other illnesses, along with broader economic, social, and environmental damage.
The Archbishop’s position carries weight, as his parishioners include many employees at key nuclear facilities such as Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, and the Kirtland Underground Munitions and Maintenance Storage Complex — the site where the largest single collection of U.S. nuclear weapons is housed. This proximity to the nuclear industry makes his advocacy particularly impactful.
Wester emphasizes that the public has long been misled into thinking nuclear weapons ensure safety. “The public’s been duped by our leaders for the last 80 years into thinking: ‘You’re perfectly safe because we’ve got all these thousands of nuclear warheads on trigger alert,’” he said. This belief, he argues, is a dangerous illusion.
He also highlights the struggle of conveying the truth about nuclear weapons, which faces both political and financial resistance. This financial entanglement, he argues, undermines progress on disarmament.
In a world where people are already grappling with numerous crises, Wester urges others not to ignore the nuclear threat. “For those who think disarmament is naïve,” he asks, “what’s more naïve — to think that our luck’s going to hold out, that we can live with nuclear weapons or … thinking, no, we’ve got to get rid of them?”
The stakes couldn’t be higher. As the Doomsday Clock ticks closer to midnight and nuclear arsenals grow more modern and more deadly, the need for urgent, sustained action has never been clearer. In the face of political inaction, it falls to communities, faith groups, and leaders like Wester to sound the alarm and demand a safer, nuclear-free future.