October 27, 2015

On October 23, The Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the UN gave an intervention before the First Committee of the 70th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on Agenda Item 95, dedicated to the “Prevention of An Arms Race in Outer Space.”

In its statement, the Holy See noted that communications, observation, monitoring and global-positioning satellites play a vital global role in human activity but that military interests are searching for way to destroy them or render them inoperable, something that would harm the common good as well as create dangerous space debris.

The Holy See urged prompt action to initiate and conclude negotiations toward a binding legal framework to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes and to prohibit the deployment or testing of weapons systems in space.

The statement can be read in full here.