In a statement read by a Vatican official on Dec. 8 during the opening ceremony of the two-day Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, Pope Francis expressed opposition to nuclear weapons spending and what he said was the misallocation of resources away from “integral human development, education, health and the fight against extreme poverty.” Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, read the statement, which also labeled nuclear weapons as a "global problem," and decried the notion of mutually assured destruction, which he said engenders fear. “Nuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction cannot be the basis for an ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence among peoples and states,” Francis states. “The youth of today and tomorrow deserve far more. They deserve a peaceful world order based on the unity of the human family, grounded on respect, cooperation, solidarity and compassion. Now is the time to counter the logic of fear with the ethic of responsibility, and so foster a climate of trust and sincere dialogue.”