Faith Leaders Warn of AI-Enabled Nuclear Arms Race and Call for Disarmament

Eighty-one years after the atomic bombings, faith leaders are amplifying calls for nuclear risk reduction as AI becomes embedded in weapons. Archbishop John Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, whose parish includes workers at Los Alamos and Sandia labs, warned of radiation-related illnesses and urged public education on nuclear dangers. Simultaneously, a Vatican-hosted assembly of religious leaders, Nobel laureates and AI specialists issued the Rome Declaration, stating that AI in nuclear systems threatens to sideline human decision-making and fuels a parallel AI arms race.

Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas reinforces the moral case against such technology. The declaration urges “good-faith negotiations” aimed at the verifiable and irreversible elimination of nuclear weapons. Participants stressed the need for interfaith outreach to broaden public engagement beyond policy circles.