Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the USCCB, called the February 4, 2026, expiration of the New START nuclear arms treaty "simply unacceptable." The New START treaty, signed in 2010, limited both the U.S. and Russia to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads each and included provisions for inspections and information exchanges. The Archbishop urged policymakers to adhere to the terms of the lapsing agreement amidst rising global tensions and conflicts like the war in Ukraine. Analysts predict an accelerated nuclear arms race now that the last bilateral nuclear arms agreement between the superpowers is expiring without momentum for renewal. Lynn Rusten, a former negotiator, warned that the path to unconstrained nuclear competition will be unimpeded following the treaty's lapse.
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Pope Leo XIV urged renewal of the New START treaty at his February 4 general audience, warning against abandoning it without effective follow-up to avert a new arms race.1 3 5
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, USCCB president, called the treaty's expiration "simply unacceptable" amid global conflicts like Ukraine, issuing his statement on February 3.1 2 3
Signed in 2010 and extended to February 4, 2026, New START limits U.S. and Russia to 1,550 deployed warheads, 700 missiles, and bombers, with inspections and data exchanges.1 3 5
It is the last bilateral nuclear arms control pact between the superpowers, constraining 90% of global nuclear arsenals.1 3
Experts like Lynn Rusten predict unconstrained nuclear competition post-expiration, ending over 50 years of limits and dialogue.1 2
The Doomsday Clock advanced to 85 seconds to midnight on January 27, citing nuclear threats, AI, bio-risks, and climate as factors.1 2
Coakley referenced Pope Leo's January 9 address to diplomats, stressing follow-up on New START to avoid AI-enhanced arms races.1 2 3 4
The Pope's World Day of Peace message invoked St. John XXIII's call for integral disarmament based on mutual trust, not equal armaments.1 3 4
Coakley urged policymakers to negotiate maintaining limits toward disarmament, rejecting stalemates despite disagreements.1 2 3 4 5
He called on the faithful to pray for transformative peace, invoking the Prince of Peace for universal fraternity.1 2 4 5
Coakley's statement continues four decades of U.S. bishops' pushes for disarmament, nuclear test bans, and dialogue.1 2
Pope Leo reiterated prayers for Ukraine amid Russian attacks during his February 4 audience.5
The Church urges renewal of the US‑Russia nuclear treaty
The headline "The Church urges renewal of the US-Russia nuclear treaty" accurately reflects longstanding Catholic teaching on nuclear disarmament, particularly regarding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between the United States and Russia. This treaty, signed in 2010 and extended to February 2026, limits deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 per side and includes vital verification measures like on-site inspections. Pope Leo XIV's recent address explicitly calls for follow-up on New START as it nears expiration, echoing decades of USCCB advocacy for its extension as a step toward total elimination of nuclear weapons. This position aligns with the Church's moral imperative to prioritize peace through verifiable disarmament over deterrence based on mutual destruction.
In his January 9, 2026, address to the Diplomatic Corps, Pope Leo XIV highlighted the "important need to follow-up on the New START Treaty, which expires in February," warning of the "danger of returning to the race of producing ever more sophisticated new weapons, also by means of artificial intelligence." This direct reference underscores the treaty's role in preventing an arms race, emphasizing that "peace requires continuous and patient efforts of construction as well as constant vigilance," especially from nuclear-armed states. The Pope's words build on predecessors like St. John XXIII, who in Pacem in Terris (1963) demanded that "nuclear weapons must be banned" through disarmament agreements with mutual controls—a theme reiterated by Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis.
This papal intervention comes at a critical juncture, as New START's expiration without renewal would eliminate legally binding limits on the world's two largest nuclear arsenals (over 90% of global stockpiles held by the US and Russia) for the first time since 1972. The Holy See views such treaties not as endpoints but as "steps along the way to achieving a mutual, verifiable global ban on nuclear weapons."
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has repeatedly urged Congress and administrations to extend New START, framing it within the Church's ethic that "an ethics and a law based on the threat of mutual destruction... are contradictory to the very spirit of the United Nations." In their 2018 backgrounder, the bishops welcomed New START's reductions (deployed warheads to 1,550, delivery vehicles to 700) and verification protocols, calling for its extension beyond 2021 as "fundamental to global security." By 2020, amid eroding arms control (e.g., US withdrawal from INF and JCPOA), they pressed for bipartisan bills supporting extension unless materially breached, stressing that nuclear powers must lead in reversing proliferation.
The USCCB's position remains firm: the US must "move away from reliance on nuclear weapons for security," commit to no-first-use, and pursue "progressive nuclear disarmament" per Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. They oppose modernization investments that perpetuate arsenals, advocating instead for fissile material cut-offs and ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which 151 nations (including Russia, UK, France) have ratified but awaits US Senate action.
Holy See representatives at the UN have amplified this urgency. In 2022, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia commended New START commitments at the NPT Review Conference and urged CTBT ratification to prevent radiation from tests, noting past tests as the "largest cumulative dose of man-made radiation." By 2023, amid rising risks, he decried treaty abandonments and NPT polarization, calling for "renewing arms reduction mechanisms leading toward the total elimination of nuclear weapons." Archbishop Caccia reiterated the "moral and humanitarian imperative" of total elimination via the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), while hoping nuclear-dependent states engage its verification efforts.
These statements counter a "climate of distrust" and "erosion of multilateralism," complicated by AI and new technologies, as Pope Francis noted in Nagasaki (2019). The Church supports diplomacy over militarism, as seen in backing the P5+1 Iran deal and opposing first-use or non-nuclear deterrence.
Catholic teaching roots this in human dignity: nuclear weapons threaten indiscriminate destruction, violating just war principles and care for creation (Laudato Si', no. 57). Victims of US testing—from Trinity downwinders to uranium workers—exemplify ongoing harm, prompting USCCB support for Radiation Exposure Compensation Act reauthorization. Popes decry arsenals as "an affront crying out to heaven," urging resources shift from military spending (US at post-WWII highs) to the common good.
Renewal of New START aligns with Article VI of the NPT, binding nuclear states to negotiate disarmament—a "responsibility... for the preservation... of threats to peace."
The Church's urging is pragmatic yet prophetic: extend New START immediately via presidential agreement, then negotiate broader pacts including China. This patient multilateralism, per Popes and bishops, fosters trust, verification, and ethical AI governance in weaponry. Failure risks catastrophe; success advances Pope Francis's vision: "We must therefore commit ourselves to a world without nuclear weapons."
In summary, the headline captures the Church's unified voice—from Pope Leo XIV's timely plea to USCCB persistence and UN advocacy—for New START renewal as essential to disarmament. Catholics are called to echo this through prayer, advocacy, and support for treaties prioritizing life over annihilation.