Pope urges governments to cut military spending

by Benjamin Graham

Governments worldwide should spend less on guns and nuclear bombs and more on fighting poverty, Pope Benedict XVI said this week.

“Among the many challenges…one of the most serious is increased military spending and the cost of maintaining and developing nuclear arsenals,” the Pontiff said.

“Enormous resources are being consumed for these purposes, when they could be spent on the development of peoples, especially those who are poorest.”

Speaking in his traditional New Year address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, the Pope lamented the “indifference” of public opinion around the world to military spending and poverty.

“Together with the inability of the parties directly involved to step back from the spiral of violence and pain spawned by these conflicts, there is the apparent powerlessness of other countries and the international organisations to restore peace, to say nothing of the indifference, amounting practically to resignation, of public opinion worldwide,” he said.

The Pope’s remarks follow research from a UK thinktank suggesting that the number of military personnel serving in the UK’s armed forces could be cut by up to quarter.

The Royal United Services Institute said the defence budget needs to be reduced by more than 15 per cent over the next five years to help reduce the government’s budget deficit.

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