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Open Letter to Pope Francis From Political and Social Leaders: We Support Your Call for Immediate Peace Negotiations

December 20, 2022

His Holiness, Pope Francis
Apostolic Palace
00120 Vatican City

Your Holiness,

Greetings from the grouping of Political and Social Leaders of the World to Stop the Danger of Nuclear War, initiated by the Schiller Institute in Germany.

We have met on three occasions to discuss the impending danger of nuclear war and global Armageddon resulting from the war between Ukraine and Russia, with a view to taking whatever action necessary to stop the war and to bring peace. On 17 November 2022, our group issued a Declaration to Stop the Threat of Nuclear War, signed by legislators and former legislators from Latin America, the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa.

In that declaration, we highlighted Your Holiness’s call for a negotiated, peaceful solution. We further welcome Your Holiness’s offer of the Vatican as a possible neutral ground for peace talks – without any preconditions – between Russia and Ukraine. Our group wishes to support this initiative in any way we can, including gathering together all who wish for peace and the prevention of nuclear war.

We note that others in Europe and the United States have also offered venues for the Russian and Ukrainian leadership to negotiate peace. We believe it is urgent to unify all such efforts into a globe-spanning movement to bring resolution to this conflict, taking into consideration the valid security interests of all parties.

In that spirit, we hereby sign this letter to indicate that support, and call on other political and social leaders around the world, regardless of differences in ideology or religious faith, to add their signatures as well.

We intend to convene a Fourth Seminar of Political and Social Leaders of the World to Stop the Danger of Nuclear War in early 2023 to further this push for peace and to stop the danger of nuclear war, and we extend an invitation to a representative from the Vatican to attend.

INITIATING SIGNERS
Donald RamotarGuyanaFormer President
Dr. Kirk MeighooTrinidad & TobagoFormer Senator
Helga Zepp-LaRoucheGermanyFounder, Schiller Institute
Diane SareUnited StatesCandidate for U.S. Senate from New York State
Karl KroekelGermanyFounder, “Craftsmen for Peace”
Dr. Rodolfo Ondarza RoviraMexicoFormer member, Mexico City Legislative Assembly
Nick BranaUnited StatesChair, People’s Party
Maria de los Ángeles HuertaMexicoFormer Congresswoman
ADDITIONAL SIGNERS
Tse Anye KevinAfricaVice President, State55, Afrika
Dr. Smaine DjellaAlgeriaPh.D. in International Studies; Assistant Professor, University of Algeria; researcher, translator
Enrique Juan BoxArgentinaSocial communicator
Roberto FritzscheArgentinaProfessor, Dep’t of Economic Science, University of Belgrano
Rubén Darío GuzzettiArgentinaProfessor, Argentine Institute of Geopolitical Studies
Carlos Pérez GalinoArgentinaLawyer
Juan Francisco Numa SotoArgentinaLegal counsel to Yacyretá Binational Entity; former professor of Constitutional Law, University of Buenos Aires
Gustavo RussoArgentinaLawyer; Professor of Juridical Sciences
Clive EttiaAustraliaPremium Science Trade
Erich FankhauserAustriaInternational Associate, Peace through Culture Association
Christian DierickBelgiumEngineer, International Science and Technology Collaboration
Clinton Canul LunaBelizeColumnist, Amandola newspaper
Edwin de la Fuente JeriaBoliviaFormer Commander in Chief, Bolivian Armed Forces
Osman Vladimir Escobar TorrezBoliviaHuman Rights Secretary, Bolivian Labor Confederation (COB)
Max Yecid IbañezBoliviaFormer Secretary of Grievance Resolution, National Federation of Electrical and Telephone Workers of Bolivia
Sandra Marca UscamaytaBoliviaConsultant, specialist in Family Agriculture
Jairo Dias CarvalhoBrazilProfessor of Philosophy of Technology, Federal University of Uberlândia
Lucas Leiroz de AlmeidaBrazilJournalist; Researcher in Social Sciences at the Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; geopolitical consultant.
Raphael MachadoBrazilPolitical analyst; president, Nova Resistência
Pedro Augusto PinhoBrazilPresident, Association of Petrobras Engineers (AEPET)
Gabriel Tincani RamosBrazilPresident, Union of Socialist Youth – Campinas
Renata Welinski Da Silva SeabraBrazilFormer UNDP Executive Director, UN Global Compact Brazil; Ph.D. candidate in international environmental law – Belt and Road Initiative
Lassane OuedraogoBurkina Faso/IrelandFormer Chairman, Board of Directors, Africa Solidarity Center, Ireland
Julian Fell, Ph.D.CanadaBiologist; Co-Director Area F, Nanaimo Regional Government, British Columbia
Sherri LangeCanadaCEO, NA-PAW (North American Platform Against Wind Power); Vice President Canada, Save the Eagles International
Dr. Wayne SmithCanadaRegional Emergency Medical Director
Mario Guillermo Acosta AlarcónColombiaScientist, writer; Director, CIFRA (Space Lab City)
Patricia MenaColombiaSocial Leader for Mental Health
Hernán Palacios CasallasColombiaLabor leader
Alba Luz PinillaColombiaFormer Member of Congress; Vice President, Partido Dignidad
Pedro RubioColombiaUnion leader; public policy analyst
Dr. Ronnie de CaminoCosta Rica Professor (emeritus), Tropical Agronomic Center of Research and Teaching (CATIE)
Enrique García DubónCosta RicaEconomist
Enrique Ramírez GuierCosta RicaBiologist; consultant
Martha RollinsCosta RicaInternational Projects Consultant
Alex KrainerCroatiaAuthor, “Grand Deception: The Truth about Bill Browder, the Magnitsky Act, and Anti-Russian Sanctions”
Gregory CaimaresDominican RepublicCommunicator, “Hora 22” TV program
Ramón Emilio ConcepciónDominican RepublicAttorney at Law; Presidential Pre-candidate for PRM party (2020)
Dr. Roque EspaillatDominican RepublicPhysician, social activist
Reinaldo OlivoDominican RepublicBishop, El Shaddai Pentacostal Christian Church
Dante Ortiz NuñezDominican RepublicHistorian
Msgr. Norberto Polanco PérezDominican RepublicMissionary Archbishop, Fidelitas Vetero-Catholic Apostolic Church
Rafael Reyes JerezDominican RepublicJournalist
Eddy Rafael Ruiz PeñaDominican RepublicCertified Public Accountant
Enrique Antonio Sánchez LiranzoDominican RepublicLawyer, writer, poet
Caonabo SuárezDominican RepublicLawyer; social activist
Mario BritoEcuadorJournalist, author; former minister
Ernesto Pazmiño GranizoEcuadorHuman Rights Defender; Former Minister of Justice of Ecuador
Alexis PonceEcuadorRights advocate, National Association of Patients and Vulnerable Families of Ecuador.
Napoleón Saltos GalarzaEcuadorUniveristy professor; former Legislator (Diputado)
Mardokai RussomEritrea/United StatesFounder, Eritrean-American Public Affairs Committee (EAPAC)
Jacques CheminadeFrancePresident, Solidarite et Progrès; former presidential candidate
Col. Alain Corvez (ret.)FranceConsultant, International Strategic Affairs
Gen. Dominique Delawarde (ret.)FranceFormer French Liaison Officer with U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS
Uwe BehrensGermanyLogistics expert, author
Dr. jur. Wolfgang BittnerGermanyAuthor
Joachim BonatzGermanyVice President, East German Board of Trustees of Associations (Ostdeutschen Kuratoriums e.V.), Berlin
Isabelle CaselGermanySpeaker, Federal Working Group on Peace and International Politics, Die Linke
Dr. Ole DoeringGermany/ChinaProfessor of Philosophy, Culture and Ethics
Jochen GuenikerGermanySpokesman, parish team of St. Aegidius, Mannheim-Seckenheim
Holger HuettelGermanyChairman, Die Linke, Sangerhausen
Prof. Dr. Karin KulowGermanyProfesssor Emeritus of Middle East Political Sciences; conflict researcher, peace activist
Fokko MuenckGermanyPsychologist; peace researcher
Maj. Florian D. Pfaff (ret.)GermanySpokesman, working group “Darmstaedter Signal”
Rainer SandauGermanyTechnical Director, Satellites and Space Applications, International Academy of Aeronautics (IAA)
Prof. Wilfried SchreiberGermanyOberst a.d., Prof Dr. Phil et sc.oec.; Senior Research Fellow, World Trends Institute for Internationl Policy, Potsdam
Michael von der SchulenburgGermanyFormer Deputy General Secretary of the United Nations for UN Peace Missions
Bartholomew ChirapangaGhanaLegal advisor; language interpreter
Dr. Panagiotis IoannidesGreeceMember, International Academy of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Athens
Leonidas ChrysanthopoulosGreeceAmbassador ad honorem; Secretary General, Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (2006-2010)
Raúl Aníbal Marroquín CasasolaGuatemala“Pupil of Heaven” Citizens for Peace Observatory
Beatriz Solórzano LeónGuatemalaLawyer; Parliamentary staff, Congress of Guatemala
Otto René Quiñónes CaríasGuatemalaFormer Congressman
Jhonny EstorHaitiFounder, Renaissance Haiti
Andrea SzegoHungaryFormer Professor of Economics
Koushik DasIndiaJournalist
Dr. A. K. MerchantIndiaJoint Secretary, Shanti Sahyog – Centre for Nonviolence & Peace
Sundeep WaslekarIndiaPresident, Strategic Foresight Group
Sam PitrodaIndia/United StatesTelecom/IT Innovator
Zahra M. AliIraqMember, Iraqi Council of Representatives (Parliament)
Saud Al-SaediIraqMember, Iraqi Council of Representatives (Parliament)
Mustafa Jabbar SanadIraqMember, Iraqi Council of Representatives (Parliament)
Mario AgostinelliItalyTrade unionist; Chairman, Fondazione Energia Felice; former General Secretary of CGIL, Sesto San Giovanni
Alberto ArecchiItalyArchitect; Art historian; Founder and President, Liutprand (a Northern Italian Cultural Association)
Pino ArlacchiItalyFormer Director, United Nations Drug Control Program; Professor of Sociology, University of Sassari
Francesco BattagliaItalyProfessor of Physical Chemistry, University of Modena
Prof. Bruno BrandimarteItalyProfessor (ret.), Applied Biophysics, Univ. of Rome, Tor Vergata
Liliana GoriniItalyChairwoman of Movisol
Giancarlo GuaitaniItalyFormer mayor, Fara Gera d’Adda
Maria Elena LacquanitiItalyCoordinator, GLAM Globalization and Environment Commission
Federica ManciniItalyNuclear engineer, Atoms for Peace, Italy
Pierangelo MontiItalyPresident, Movimento Internazionale della Riconciliazione (MIR), Italian branch of International Fellowship of Reconciliation
Carlo PettirossiItaly/GermanyNuclear engineer, Atoms for Peace, Italy
Alessia RuggeriItalyComitato per la Repubblica
Antonella VisintinItalyMember, Commission on Globalization and Environment, Protestant Federation
Vincenzo Romanello, Ph.DItaly/Czech RepublicSenior Nuclear Researcher and Project Manager, National Radiation Protection Institute (SURO)
Sutou Shizuyo, Ph.DJapanProfessor emeritus, School of Pharmacy, Shujitsu University
Mohammed Peter Davis, Ph.D.MalaysiaBiochemist; biotechnologist; architect; Consultant, deep tropical agriculture
Adam OuologuemMaliWashington D.C.-based journalist
Celeste Sáenz de MieraMexicoSecretary Gerneral, Mexican Journalists Club
Mouris SalloumMexicoDirector General, Mexican Journalists Club
Jaime Varela SalazarMexicoChemical Engineer; Former Director, Faculty of Chemical Sciences, University of Sonora
Samo Fernando Soares da ManhiçaMozambiqueExecutive Director, International Alliance for Development – Mozambique
Prof. Bishnu PathakNepalProfessor of Peace, Justice and Security Studies, TRANSCEND Peace University
C. (Kees) le Pair, Ph.DNetherlandsPhysicist, Univ. of Leiden; Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fletcher GlassNew ZealandProperty development
Bolívar Tellez CastellónNicaraguaLawyer; university professor
Mahamadou HabouNigerFocal point, Lake Chad Basin youth network; young entrepreneur
David AjetunmobiNigeriaTrade union leader, auto sector
Adeshola KukoyiNigeriaFounder, Equilibrium Perspectives/University of Lagos
Zubair ZubairNigeriaHuman rights and youth advocate; radio host
Thore VestbyNorwayFormer Member of Parliament
Hassan DaudPakistanFormer Project Director, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
Shakeel Ahmad RamayPakistanCEO, Asian Institute of Eco-Civilization Research and Development
Iván Alexander Muñoz MaestrePanamaBusinessman; “Citizen of the World”
José Antonio Benllochpiquer CastroPeruVice President, Christian Democratic Party of Peru
Dr. Carlos Francisco Gallardo NeyraPeruPresident, Christian Democratic Party of Peru
Dr. W. Julian Korab-KarpowiczPolandPhilosopher; professor, University of Opole; former deputy mayor of Gdansk
Andrzej Strupczewski, Ph.DPolandProfessor; vice chairman, Environmentalists for Nuclear Power
Vladimir OnoprienkoRussiaMember, Noosphere Public Academy of Sciences
Mira TeradaRussiaChairwoman, Foundation to Battle Injustice
Prof. Blagoje BabićSerbiaMember, Serbian Academy of Economic Science
Natasa MilojevicSerbiaPolitical scientist; former Member of Parliament
Jozef MikloskoSlovakiaFormer Deputy Prime Minister, Czech and Slovak Federative Republic; former Slovak Ambassador to Italy
Meshack MaxongoSouth AfricaLeader, LaRouche South Africa
Yim SungbinSouth KoreaPresident, FAVORs, Seoul
Juan José Torres NúñezSpainAuthor, poet, free-lance journalist
Amir KamalySwedenPh.D. in Fourier Analysis, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Thomas PetterssonSwedenSenior Advisor, Civil and Human Rights
Hussein AskarySweden/IraqSouthwest Asia Coordinator, Schiller Institute
Georg KochSwitzerlandRetired social pedagogue; co-editor, “Schweizer Standpunkt”
Lt. Col. (ret.) Ralph BosshardSwitzerlandSwiss Armed Forces; consultant, military/strategic affairs
Eyup TopkayaTurkeyPolitical activist
Bishop Lubega Geoffrey BobUgandaMinister, Born Again Faith
Dr. Yurii SheliazhenkoUkrainePh.D. in Law; Executive Secretary, Ukrainian Pacifist Movement
Prof. Koku AdomdzaUnited KingdomResearcher
Joseph AliUnited Kingdom/GuyanaEngineer
Jenifer ChambersUnited KingdomSocial Activist
Renato CorsettiUnited Kingdom/ItalyPsycholinguist, esperantist
Timothy HardacreUnited KingdomInternational lawyer
Bernie HollandUnited KingdomHead of Value Creation Collective
Mike RobinsonUnited KingdomEditor, UK Column
Dr. Athar AbassiUnited StatesMajor, U.S. Army (Ret)
Mohammad Salim AkhtarUnited StatesNational Director, American Muslim Task Force on Civil Rights and Elections, Washington D.C.
David AnderssonUnited StatesCo-Director, Pressenza IPA
Fatmeh Atieh BakhitUnited StatesEditor, Al Entesher newspaper, Los Angeles, CA
Rev. John C. BealUnited StatesOrthodox Church of America, California
Tim BegalkaUnited StatesState Senator, South Dakota
Archbishop BenjaminUnited StatesOrthodox Church in America, San Francisco
Pastor Hugo BergerUnited StatesEvangelical Church of the Good Shepherd, Brooklyn, NY
Rev. Lawrence BernardUnited StatesChaplain, Poor Clare Monastery, Roswell, NM
Victoria BinghamUnited StatesRetired Intelligence Analyst; Russian linguist
Meg BowermanUnited StatesPax Christi, Norther California chapter
Kathleen BoylanUnited StatesDorothy Day Catholic Worker, Washington D.C.
Lt. (ret.) Robert E. BrancaUnited StatesU.S. Naval Reserve
Lisa BryceUnited StatesOpera singer; Ph.D., Music Education; Reverend
Harry J. Bury Ph.D.United StatesTwin Cities Non-Violent Association of U.S. Catholic Priests
Leslee CoadyUnited StatesPax Christi, Norther California chapter
Father Ray ChaseUnited StatesPastor, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Baltimore, MD
Marjorie CohnUnited StatesFormer president, National Lawyers Guild; Veterans for Peace Advisory Board
Ronald M. ConverseUnited StatesRetired Correctional Counselor; established pioneering Drug & Alcohol Recovery Program
Arthur DawesUnited StatesPresident of the Board, Pax Christi, Texas
Bishop Demetrios of MokissosUnited StatesGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Vinnie De StefanoUnited StatesNational Organizing Director, Assange Defense
Daniel DonnellyUnited StatesMember, Libertarian Party of NY State Committee 9 (Hudson Valley district)
Denny DreherUnited StatesCo-Coordinator, Pax Christi Maine
John DrozUnited StatesPhysicist
Brian A. EarleyUnited StatesCaptain (ret.), U.S. Army
Ed EhmkeUnited StatesPax Christi, Northern California chapter
Imam Mohammad Ali ElahiUnited StatesIslamic House of Wisdom, Dearborn Heights, MI
John FarrellUnited StatesCivil Engineer; Millwright
Mike FernerUnited StatesFormert National President, Veterans for Peace
John FlynnUnited StatesU.S. Senate candidate from Connecticut, 2022; newly announced candidate 2024
Christopher and Mary FogartyUnited StatesIrish Support Group (Chicago)
Chuck FrascatiUnited StatesMember, Pax Christi, Baltimore
Graham FullerUnited States/CanadaFormer Vice Chair, National Intelligence Council of the CIA for Long Term Forecasting; writer, political commentator
Hector E. GarciaUnited StatesTwin Cities Noviolent, MN
Larry GauthierUnited StatesJournalist; former member, Nebraska Democratic State Central Cttee; owner, Westphalian Publishing
Laurent “Larry” GilbertUnited StatesVeterans for Peace, Chapter 136, Florida; Former Mayor, Lewiston, Maine
Jack GilroyUnited StatesPax Christi, Upstate New York
Dr. Bennett GreenspanUnited StatesPast President of SNMMI (Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging), American College of Radiology
Rev. John Gregory-DavisUnited StatesMeriden Congregational Church, UCC, Meriden, NH
Ephraim HaileUnited States/EritreaEritrean Cultural & Development Center (ECDC); Eritrean Diaspora, Boston
Joyce HallUnited StatesMember, Board of Directors, Texas Pax Christi
Stephen P. HanleyUnited StatesRetired school principal, Framingham, MA
Cathy HelgasonUnited StatesProfessor of Neurology
Jim HogueUnited StatesRepublican candidate for Lt. Governor, Vermont, 2020
Albert W. HoltUnited StatesMarine Corporal (ret.); former electrician
Milla IsmailovaUnited StatesRetired Russian Linguist
Appo JabarianUnited StatesPublisher, USA Armenian Life magazine
Claudio JaffeUnited StatesCellist
Ivan I. JonesUnited StatesFormer Board Member and Shop Steward, Local 783, AFSCME, Boston MA
John S. JonesUnited StatesWard 14 Democratic Committee, Boston, MA
Frank KartheiserUnited StatesOrganizer, The Mustard Seed Catholic Community, Worcester, MA
Dan KennedyUnited StatesAuthor, “Res Publica; The Nation of Space”
Bishop Reginald L. KennedyUnited StatesPresident, Ministers Conference of Baltimore and Vicinity; Pastor, Gospel Tabernacle Baptist Church
Robert Flash KingsleyUnited StatesPastor, author
Dr. George KooUnited StatesChairman, Burlingame Foundation; retired business consultant, U.S.-China relations
Gerald W. KoppUnited StatesFounding member, North Dakota Natural Farmers Association; former U.S. Congressional candidate
Janice KortkampUnited StatesCitizen Journalist, “American Housewife in Syria”
Jeremy KuzmarovUnited StatesJournalist, author
Jack LauUnited StatesOblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI); Pax Christi, Northern California
Nebojsa MalicUnited StatesSerbian-American journalist
Joseph MarcinkowskiUnited StatesChair, Military & Foreign Policy Workgroup, Houston Peace and Justice Center
Imam Radwan MardiniUnited StatesAmerican Muslim Center, Dearborn, MI
Charles MarroneUnited StatesLicensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
Eli McCarthyUnited StatesProfessor, Georgetown University Program on Justice and Peace
David R. Meiswinkle, Esq.United StatesFormer President and Executive Director, Lawyers’ Committee for 9/11 Inquiry
Kevin MenneUnited StatesPodcast host, “Ask the Politician”, Cincinnati, OH
Suzzanne MonkUnited StatesChair, Patriot Action PAC
James MooreUnited StatesPast president, Alaska Trollers Association; Executive committee for NSRAA and AKI (aquaculture)
Fr. John MurrayUnited StatesPastor, Our Mother of Perpetual Church, Ephrata PA
Al MyttyUnited StatesFlorida coordinator, World BEYOND War
Darrell NicholsUnited StatesFormer President, NE Ohio NAACP; Former Vice-President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Toledo, OH; Captain (ret.), U.S. Army
Jeff NormanUnited StatesFounder, U.S. Tour of Duty; podcast host of “Ask the Inspector” and “Scenes from the Evolution”
Tim O’ConnerUnited StatesBroadcast jounalist; Chairman, Otsego County, NY, Libertarian Party
Nestor OginarUnited StatesRepresentative, World Macedonian Congress at the UN; Member, Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archepiscopy
John OLoughlinUnited Statesauthor of “McDuff Lives!: The Life and Untimely Death of Thomas F. OLoughlin, Jr.”
Andy OlsonUnited StatesFarmer; former LaRouche Democrat candidate for Governor of Minnesota; and for U.S. Congress (2nd CD – MN)
Daniel B. OstrowskiUnited StatesU.S. Army Captain (ret.); member, Polish Legion of American Vets, Post 169
Sue and Bud OzarUnited StatesRetired educators; Co-founders, Friends of Kenyan Orphans; Lay Missioners, Samoa Islands and Kenya
Lorin PetersUnited StatesModerator, Northern California Pax Christi
Jeffrey S. Philbin, Ph.D.United StatesNuclear Engineer, nuclear weapon response, Albuquerque, NM
Cynthia PoolerUnited StatesBroadcast journalist; peace activist, NY
David T. PyneUnited StatesFormer U.S. Army HQ Staff Officer
Earl RasmussenUnited StatesExecutive Vice President, Eurasia Center, Washington D.C.
Tara ReadeUnited StatesAuthor; Producer; former U.S. Senate Aide
Harry J. Reith, DDSUnited StatesChemist; advocate for Maglev Rail, IN
Derotha Ann ReynoldsUnited Statesformer Democratic candidate for Nevada House of Representatives
David RothauserUnited StatesFilmmaker, Veterans for Peace USA – Smedley Butler Brigade, Boston
Karl SchmidtUnited StatesBroadcast journalist, NY
Peter M. SchullerUnited StatesProfessor of Philosophy, Emeritus
Abbot Paul Mark Schwan, OCSOUnited StatesAbbey of Our Lady of Clairvaux, Vina, CA.
John ShanahanUnited StatesCivil engineer; editor of website AllAboutEnergy.net
John Calvin SmithUnited StatesSenior Project Engineer, Dams and Levees; Earthquake Geotechnical Engineer
Tracy SmithUnited StatesMember, Board of Directors, Florida Water Well Association and FL Wastewater Association 1991-2006; Member, Abundant Life Ministries
Marcia SprinkleUnited StatesMember, Pax Christi; Deacon, Seventh Avenue Presbyterian, San Francisco, CA
Steven StarrUnited StatesMPH, MT(ASCP)BB; Assistant Clinical Professor, Univeristy of Missouri
Kelley StillwellUnited StatesRetired Union Workers of America
Barbara SuhrstedtUnited StatesInternational concert pianist, retired; President, Board of Directors, Framingham Lomonosov Association for Mutual Exchange (F.L.A.M.E.)
Stan TaylorUnited StatesTreasurer, Northern California Pax Christi
Kathleen TempleUnited StatesFormer pastor, Mennonite Church USA
Bruce ToddUnited StatesMillwright Local 715 (ret.); former Independent candidate for Lt. Governor, New Jersey
Archpriest John TomasiUnited StatesRector, Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church (Orthodox Church of America), Marina del Rey, CA
Dr. Mohammad A. ToorUnited StatesChairman of the Board of Trustees, Pakistani American Congress
Bob Van HeeUnited StatesCommissioner, Redwood County, Minnesota
Therese Mughannam-WalrathUnited StatesCalifornia member, NorCal Sabeel (North Coast Coalition for Palestine)
Dr. Zaher WahabUnited States/AfghanistanProfessor of Education, Emeritus; Former Advisor, Afghanistan Ministry of Higher Education
Mary Ellen WaiteUnited StatesMaryknoll Affiliate, California
Michael WalliUnited StatesDorothy Day Catholic Worker, Washington D.C.
Alan WaltarUnited StatesPast President, American Nuclear Society (ANS)
Lonnie WeinheimerUnited StatesDorothy Day Catholic Worker, Washington D.C.
Michael WhartonUnited StatesPax Christi, Norther California chapter
Ron WieczorekUnited StatesRancher; former LaRouche Independent Congressional and Gubernatorial candidate, South Dakota; food for Peace leader
Tom ZawistowskiUnited StatesPresident, We the People Convention
Vivian ZelayaUnited StatesPax Christi, Norther California chapter
Luisa Báez CataríVenezuelaPresident, Diocesan Union of Confraternities of the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, Guarenas
Jose Bustamante PlazVenezuelaSociologist
Andrés Ramón Giussepe AvaloVenezuelaFormer member, Latin American Parliament
Marco Antonio HernándezVenezuelaCommunity, education, social networks organizer
Emil Guevara MuñózVenezuelaFormer member, Latin American Parliament
Alberto Mendoza UrbinaVenezuelaFundamaraisa Foundation
César MogollónVenezuelaNational Coordinator, Central Alliance of Venezuela
Ramón Antonio PérezVenezuelaCatholic journalist; director, website “El Guardián Católico”
Ronald José Rivas CortésVenezuelaSociologist; University Professor
Román Rojas CabotVenezuelaFormer Ambassador of Venezuela to the European Community
Piero TrepiccioneVenezuelaCoordinator, Network of Jesuit Social Centers in Latin America and the Caribbean
Manuel Felipe SierraVenezuelaJournalist, political analyst, author, radio and television presenter
Edgar Rodriguez MartínezVenezuelaCoordinator, Commission for the Study of Comprehensive Human Development, Alberto Adriani Foundation
Munashe ChiwanzaZambiaCivil Engineer

Ray McGovern: On Tucker Carlson’s Report of the CIA’s Role in JFK’s Murder

The Non-Release of the JFK Assassination Documents

Dennis Speed (moderator): This question is for you, Ray. It has to do with [Fox News host] Tucker Carlson’s broadcast of December 15th concerning the JFK assassination. The reason I’m bringing it up is because of its relationship to what you’ve talked about—the expanded military-industrial complex that you’ve dubbed the MICIMATT (the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think Tank Complex).

Here’s a bit of what Carlson had to say, which gets to the point. He stated—among other things in what was a 30-minute discussion:

In 1976, long forgotten, the House of Representatives empaneled a special committee to re-investigate the JFK assassination. Their bipartisan conclusion? Jack Kennedy was almost certainly murdered as a result of a conspiracy. But the question is, a conspiracy by whom? The obvious subject would be the CIA.

DoS/Freddie Everett
Then Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo delivers remarks on “Unalienable Rights and the Securing of Freedom” at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, July 16, 2020.

Carlson talked about how the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 had mandated the full disclosure of all documents by 2017, and that Mike Pompeo, then the Director of the CIA, withheld those documents from the public, and that the same thing happened again two days ago, when the Biden administration also withheld documents. Carlson went on to say:

We spoke to someone who had access to the still-hidden CIA documents. A person who is deeply familiar with what they contain. We asked this person directly, “Did the CIA have a hand in the murder of JFK, an American President?” Here’s the reply we received, verbatim: “The answer is, yes, I believe they were involved. It’s a whole different country from what we thought it was. It’s all fake.”

Tucker Carlson did not name that source. He said, “This is not a ‘conspiracy theorist’ we spoke to, not even close. This is someone with direct knowledge of the information that once again is being withheld from the American public.”

The broadcast continued in that vein. Then, near the end, he said:

Many people have known this for a long time, but people who knew would include every director of the CIA since November of 1963. That list would include Obama’s Director of the CIA, John Brennan, one of the most sinister and dishonest figures in American life. That list would also include, we are sad to say, our friend Mike Pompeo, who ran the CIA in the last administration. Mike Pompeo knew this; we asked Pompeo to join us tonight, and although he rarely turns down televised interviews, he refused to come.

Ray, the question is: given the fact that you were a CIA analyst for 27 years, and you also returned various commendations that you got as a result of your differences and clear opposition to what happened, particularly in Iraq in 2003, what is your view of what Tucker Carlson said? What is your view about this issue, and what is your view about its relationship to the problem of an honest executive today, and an ability to get to the truth of things?

Six Ways From Sunday

Ray McGovern: Let me begin by quoting New York’s Senator Chuck Schumer, who should have lost to Diane Sare [in the recent midterm election]. After Donald Trump won the Presidency in 2016, the very first week of January, he arranged to get himself on [Rachel] Maddow’s [MSNBC] show. Maddow said, now Senator Schumer, you have something to say about the CIA and how Trump is criticizing the CIA and taking off after them. What did he say? Schumer said,

He’s being very foolish. You take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday to get back at you. I thought Trump was a pretty smart businessman, and maybe he is. But he’s being very foolish to take on Intelligence.

Schumer was telling us what the situation is.

The best book about this is something called JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters, written by James W. Douglass, who happens to be a friend of mine. He pored over all the foregoing books—this is about 12 years ago now—put them all together, and said, yeah, JFK was done in by the Deep State. The CIA, the parts of the Army, parts of the FBI knew about it, and parts of the Secret Service. He was done in, why? Because after the Cuban Missile Crisis—which relates to the kind of situation we face now—after the Cuban Missile Crisis, when JFK realized how close we had come to blowing up the world, he worked out a deal with Nikita Khrushchev, started a test ban treaty; started all kinds of negotiations toward rapprochement. With whom? With the Commies!

Now, you had to have been alive—I was serving in CIA under John Kennedy just for several months. But you had to be aware of the atmosphere. Kennedy was hated because he didn’t support the invasion of Cuba, the Bay of Pigs invasion. He told those CIA types:

This sounds like a cockamamie operation to me. But if Eisenhower approved it, go ahead. But look, we’re not going to commit the U.S. Air Force or the U.S. Army or the U.S. Armed Forces to rescue you if it screws up.

pursued it? We have then CIA Director Allen Dulles’ coffee-stained notes from his desk, saying that Kennedy said we would not commit U.S. forces, but when push comes to shove, he will not be able to avoid committing U.S. forces.

‘JFK and the Unspeakable’

So, what happened? Kennedy stayed true to his pledge not to commit U.S. forces. The whole thing fizzled out, and Kennedy was heard to say to a neighbor up there in Hyannis Port, “I’d like to take the CIA and scatter it into a thousand pieces.” That’s sort of a declaration of war, right? Kennedy and Allen Dulles didn’t get along very well at all. It took him several months to fire Allen Dulles. You don’t fire a well-connected patrician like Allen Dulles, whose brother is the Secretary of State, and who has all kinds of—let’s put it this way—“six ways from Sunday to get back at you,” without paying the price.

It was the substantive issue of John Kennedy trying to figure out how to live with the Russians in a more decent, peaceful way. And the fact that he could not be trusted to support fully the cockamamie schemes of CIA, that did him in. You don’t have to take my word for it. Read Douglass’ book, JFK and the Unspeakable. It’s a quote from Thomas Merton, of all people.

NARA
Allen Dulles, the CIA Director that Kennedy had fired, was brought in to orchestrate the Warren Commission proceedings to cover up the truth about his assassination.

Today, what happened when, under Trump’s watch—he’s still not being wise to the ways of Washington—he got up on the day that the Congressional mandate said he has to release the rest of the JFK documents hidden by the CIA and the FBI. He got up in the morning without telling anybody, and said, “Today’s the day Congress said I have to release those documents. I’m going to release them.” Four hours later, in the middle of the afternoon, he said, “Oh, I changed my mind. I’m not going to release them. The CIA and FBI said it’s too sensitive; we’ll revisit it in six months.” That’s what he said. It doesn’t matter what Congress said, right?

Six months. McGovern makes a little note in his notebook. In six months, it fell through the cracks; nobody remembered that they were going to revisit in six months. Hello! Do you have to be a master psychiatrist or psychologist to figure out that maybe if they don’t want those things released, it’s because it shows that they were involved?

After the Kennedy assassination, all kinds of irregular things happened. The Warren Commission was set up by Lyndon Johnson. Who did they pick to pretty much orchestrate the whole commission proceedings? It was Allen Dulles! Allen Dulles pretty much orchestrated that whole thing. Did LBJ know about all this? James Douglass tells me, yeah, the evidence is pretty clear. Johnson may not have been involved in the actual assassination, but he knew what the plans were; he was not agnostic on that. LBJ appoints Earl Warren, and Earl Warren appoints Allen Dulles.

The Political Parties Are Collapsing

What’s my point here? When honest people—people like me—said “wait a second. This doesn’t parse. There’s some suspicion that the CIA might have been involved in the assassination, and now you’re appointing the previous CIA Director?” Guess what we got? Conspiracy theorists. “You guys are conspiracy theorists.” That’s where the term got its impetus, and to this day, often when you say the truth, and when you stop saying the truth, you’re considered a conspiracy theorist.

U.S. House of Representatives
The U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations met from 1976 to 1978, ostensibly to investigate the assassinations of Martin Luther King and President John Kennedy. They endorsed the Warren Commission findings that the FBI, CIA, and Secret Service were not involved.

Both parties are equally corrupt in all this; both parties are equally afraid of the Deep State. You don’t have to just listen to Chuck Schumer to talk about “they’ve got six ways from Sunday to get back at you.” Talk to the Senators who knew that there were no weapons of mass destruction [in Iraq], but couldn’t say it, because it was classified. Talk to the Senators who know all about Afghanistan. Again, we come back to the Senators and the Representatives who are getting the take from the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think Tank complex, the MICIMATT. Putting it in their pockets, appropriating more money for arms building, selling more money, taking a share of that money, putting it in their pockets, getting re-elected. Hello! Is this a great country or what? That’s what it takes; everybody’s afraid, and everybody’s on the take.

The Democrats tried to prevent Trump from winning the election in 2016. It’s documented now. Obama, in October; Hillary Clinton, also in October 2016 authorized all this Russia-gate stuff. We know about it; it’s in court testimony. Not many people know about it, but it’s in court testimony.

Then, what happened in 2020? My goodness! All of sudden, Hunter Biden’s computer comes out, and what does the Deep State do? They hire 51 former senior intelligence agents to say, “Russian operation. We can’t prove it, but it’s got the earmarks of a Russian operation.”

What am I saying, here? I’m saying that the media and the Deep State are joined at the hip now as never before. Both elections, or at least the following election, were probably affected by the fact that no one could tell the truth; Twitter wouldn’t allow it. Only Glenn Greenwald would tell the truth about Biden’s laptop, and how Joe Biden himself was on the take.

The 2016 thing? They tried and failed to derail Trump, but they sure got him for the four years after that. He couldn’t do a damn thing he wanted to do in terms of creating a more decent relationship with Russia.

It’s a sad story. Is the Deep State strong? It sure as Hell is. Is it still around? Of course it is. John Brennan [the former CIA Director] mentioned before. He’s a big commentator on MSNBC; James Clapper, [former Director of National Intelligence], is on CNN. It used to be that the Agency controlled the media; now the Agency is the media.

Preview the issue here and see the full table of contents.

The Schiller Institute has just released Volume 2, No. 1, of its new journal Leonore, which opens with the following from Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.’s October 20, 2002, article, “The Historical Individual:”

“The principal cause for the doom of any culture, is that mental disorder typical of popular opinion, which is to assume the validity of any assumptions currently adopted by a learned profession, or religious teaching, or more crudely adopted as ‘generally accepted popular opinion’.”

The 88-page issue, contains eleven articles, including the first English translation of one of the last letters by the 15th century scientific and political genius, Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, which has been called his “religious last will,” and an original translation of Friedrich Schiller’s “On the Sublime,” described as “perhaps his most refined discussion of the process of the development of the soul.”

The preview includes the ground-breaking article by Jason Ross, “Vernadskian Time: Time for Humanity,” which addresses “the paradoxes posed by Vernadsky’s scientific work,” which open the way to a an entirely new set of definitions of space, time and matter, taken from the standpoint of the human mind.

The journal is yours as a monthly Schiller Institute contributing member. Memberships start at $5/month. Sign up here.


Webcast: Implication of Minsk Lies—Erosion of International Law, Loss of Trust

In her weekly webcast today, Helga Zepp LaRouche ridiculed the anti-Russian narratives of NATO leaders, pointing to the broad implications of the admissions, by former German Chancellor Merkel and ex-President of France Hollande, that they never intended to fulfill the agreements they signed in Minsk. They were not just lying, she said — they were violating international law. These are the same people who speak incessantly about the “Rules-Based Order.” She said that these admissions led Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov to announce that there is no longer anyone in the EU with whom to negotiate.

In contrast, leaders in the Global South are moving ahead with plans to build an alternative to the neo-colonial Unipolar Order. She cited a Chinese intellectual who said that rather than being in a period of “epochal change”, it is more properly a moment of “de-westernization.”

This moment requires a “higher level of thinking,” which she introduced with her Ten Principles, in which the principle of “One Humanity First” must be the starting point. Reflecting the “divine nature of human beings”, this new era can establish humans as a “species of poetry, science and composers.”


New Year’s Message from Helga Zepp-LaRouche

The New Year 2023, must become the year where humanity reaches the age of adulthood. That means, we must leave behind us childish, geopolitical squabblings, where nations fight each other as if we were spoiled brats, fighting each other aiming war toys against each other in a sandbox. That sandbox can turn thermonuclear radioactive in a moment.

We must remember that we are the creative species which has the lofty task to continue the process of creation for the good of all of humanity. The majority of mankind, the countries of the Global South, and many in the formerly so-called advanced countries, want to leave war behind us, be it the danger of a new global war, or the many interventionist wars, which left millions dead or displaced as refugees.

Let us create a new paradigm of international relations, where the interest of each sovereign nation is respected, where we all join hands to eradicate poverty and underdevelopment. Let us create a modern health system in every country, so that life expectancy is increased for all human beings living on this planet, and let us create the conditions, where every child and every adult has access to universal education, so that each person has the chance to realize his or her innate creative potentials to the fullest.

Let us also create a new credit system to finance these goals and to increase the living standard of the people of the Global South and the poor in the so-called industrialized countries. Let us finally bring infrastructure, agriculture, and industry to all continents on Earth. Let us create a new international security architecture, which overcomes the division of the world into blocs and ban all weapons of mass destruction and work to make nuclear weapons technologically obsolete.

Let us think of the entire human species as that higher One, which is of a higher order than the many nations, and let us never pursue a national interest, which is not in coherence with the interest of humanity as a whole. Let us put the political, economic, and social order in cohesion with natural law, the laws of the physical universe, and let us increase that knowledge through progress in science and classical art. And let’s start from the assumption that the nature of man is fundamentally good, and that all evil comes from a lack of development, and therefore can be overcome!

A new world economic order is emerging, involving the vast majority of the countries of the Global South. The European nations and the U.S. must not fight this effort, but by joining hands with the developing countries, cooperate to shape the next epoch of the development of the human species to become a renaissance of the highest and most noble expressions of creativity! 

Let us therefore create an international movement of World Citizens, who work together to shape the next phase in the evolution of mankind, the new epoch! World Citizens of all countries, unite! 


Why the JFK Files Must Be Released Now! — A Tribute to John F. Kennedy featuring Mozart’s Requiem

The murder of John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States sixty years ago, was also the murder of the American republic—and that murder is still unresolved in the minds of the American people. Many subsequent crimes, including many criminal wars and deposing of governments, are actually derivative expressions of that “murder most foul.” 

Now, because of a December decision by the Biden Administration to continue to suppress certain documents, there is renewed discussion about the potential international significance of releasing thousands of pages of still-withheld files regarding the assassination of President Kennedy. Can the United States finally regain its soul as a nation through the public exposure of how and why American (and other) governmental and non-governmental institutions may have played a role in—or even directed—the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963? 

Answering that question with “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” is now essential to restoring the trust of both the American people as well as that of other nations in the now horribly compromised Congress, Presidency and American judicial system. To successfully do this, in the 60th year after JFK was murdered, requires a higher cultural vantage point from which to see and face the truth. Mozart’s Requiem, performed in Kennedy’s honor immediately after his assassination at the request of Jacquline Kennedy, provides that. The greatest beauty is required to confront the greatest ugliness. “

The Schiller Institute commemorated the January 1964 performance of the Mozart Requiem at Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross, 50 years to the day, January 19, 2014 . On that occasion, chairwoman and founder of the Schiller Institute Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who attended and briefly spoke (along with former Mayor of Boston and Ambassador to the Vatican Ray Flynn,) observed,“It is urgent to evoke again the divine spirit of beauty of Mozart’s composition in order to recreate in us the better world which both Kennedy and Mozart represent.”

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Commemorative Program (PDF)

Commemorative Program (HTML)


Christian Democratic Party of Peru: The Children Say, “We Don’t Want War, We Want Peace”

Dr. Carlos Gallardo, the president of the Christian Democratic Party of Peru, joins a group of Peruvian children from the Oasis community settlement in Villa El Salvador, Lima, to call for peace and an end to violence, and to deliver a message endorsing the Pope’s offer for the Vatican to serve as the venue for urgent negotiations, with no pre-conditions, between all parties in the Ukraine war.


Webcast: Reject the Zelensky Hollywood Production, Organize Support for Peace Conference Proposed by Pope Francis

Helga Zepp-LaRouche used a pre-Christmas webcast to call for an expanded mobilization behind the offer of Pope Francis to use the Vatican as a site for negotiations, without preconditions, to end NATO’s war against Russia.  Every thinking person, she said, is concerned with the danger of an escalation to World War III.  She urged viewers to circulate the Schiller Institute’s letter of support for the Pope’s offer, in the spirit of Christmas, and use the season as a moment for serious reflection on the mission of Jesus to achieve peace, through acting with good will towards all men.

The Zelensky extravaganza in Washington yesterday demonstrated the opposite, exposing the British intent for expanding the war, even as NATO is approaching the crossing of a trip-wire which is unacceptable to Russia.  She said that she believes the war hawks, typified by the Green officials in the German government, are preparing an escalation against China in 2023.  If they are successful in “diversifying” EU economies away from China, Europe will be “marginalized”.  Instead, the potential still exists for Europe to participate in the BRI. 


Webcast: World War III Danger Over Fatal Missile Strike in Poland Confirms Need for New Strategic Architecture

In her webcast today, the Schiller Institute’s Helga Zepp-LaRouche explained how this week’s deadly missile attack in Poland confirms why she and the Schiller Institute have insisted on the need for a new strategic and financial architecture. Even after it became evident that the attack, which killed two Polish citizens, was not initiated by Russia but by Ukraine, the NATO pro-war faction continued to blame Russia, and insist on full support for Zelensky’s puppet government.

The attack occurred during the G20 summit, in which nations of the Global South asserted that they are no longer willing to accept a colonial world order, dominated by the U.S. and Europe. There were important discussions between China’s Xi Jinping and leaders, including Biden and Macron. Zepp-LaRouche emphasized that momentum is with Asia, where there is growth of the real economy, while the west is collapsing due to self-imposed deindustrialization.

While the arrogance of western leaders, committed to war defending the Unipolar Order, remains a danger to all mankind, the emergence of a new NonAligned Movement offers the opportunity for a new movement of world citizens to recognize that the future depends on cooperation. She urged viewers to register for the SI conference on Nov. 22.


Conference: Stop the Danger of Nuclear War Now

Panel 1: Stopping the Doomsday Clock —
The Common Good of the One Humanity

Tuesday, November 22 — 9:30 am eastern

Moderators: Dennis Small, Stephan Ossenkopp, The Schiller Institute  

An International Chorus for Peace: Dona Nobis Pacem 
Video Address from Lyndon LaRouche  

· Helga Zepp-LaRouche (Germany); founder, Schiller Institute: “Principles of a New Security and Development Architecture” 
· Benjamín Robles Montoya (Mexico); Congressman: “A Call to Current and Former Legislators of the World: We Must Act Now to Stop the Danger of Nuclear War” 
· Col. Richard Black (ret.) (U.S.); former state senator for Virginia: “The Danger of Nuclear War After the U.S. Midterm Elections”
· Steven Starr (U.S.); retired director of the University of Missouri’s Clinical Laboratory Science Program, expert on nuclear war: “What Would Happen if a Nuclear War Started in the Black Sea?” 
· Karl Krökel (Germany); Founder of Craftsmen for Peace: “The Role of Artisans for Understanding Among Peoples”  
· Sister Ortrud Fürst (Germany), Dominican Missionary: “Thoughts on Current World Affairs” 
· Dr. Andreas Uhlig (Germany); Organizer of Citizens Initiative Peace Negotiations NOW,  Dresden:  “Peace Negotiations NOW” 
· Liane Kilinc (Germany); peace activist
· Scott Ritter (U.S.); former U.N. weapons inspector
· Patrice Kindt (France); Mayor of Chidrac, Puy de Dôme département;
· Patrick Gombault (France), Mayor of Viâpres-le-Petit: ““Support of French Mayors for the Stralsund Call for Peace”
· Antonio Ingroia (Italy); former anti-mafia Magistrate in Sicily; former candidate for Prime Minister: “Italy and Europe Are on the Front Line in the Danger of a Nuclear War”
· Julio de Vido (Argentina); former Minister of Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services (2003-2015), former congressman (2015-2017): “The Necessary Conditions for the Development of the Third World”
· Paulo Cannabrava Filho (Brazil); journalist, Editor of Diálogos do Sul: “The Danger of Nuclear War: The Alternative Is Being Built by the BRICS” 
· Alberto Quintanilla (Peru); former congressman: “The End of Globalization and the Emergence of the BRICS” 
· Pedro Páez (Ecuador); former Minister for Economic Policy (2007-2008): Greeting
· Pino Arlacchi (Italy); former head of the UN Office for Drug Control (1997-2002), professor at Sassari University.

Question & Answer Session

Panel 2: Peace Through Development

Tuesday, November 22 — 2:00 pm eastern

Moderator: Dennis Speed, The Schiller Institute 

· Diane Sare (U.S.); 2024 candidate for U.S. Senate from New York State: “America’s Voice in the Emerging New Global Architecture of Peace Through Development” 
· María de los Ángeles Huerta (Mexico); former congresswoman: “The Role of the Media in Creating a World Movement for Peace and Development”
· Donald Ramotar (Guyana); former President and former member of parliament
· Jorge Robledo (Colombia); former senator: “The Only Positive Thing About this War Is for It to End” 
· Juan Pari (Peru); former congressman: “The Energy Crisis and the Ukraine-Russia War” 
· Mike Eby (U.S.); dairy farmer, Chairman, National Dairy Producers Organization (NDPO), Exec. Dir., Org. for Competitive Markets, V.P., Penn. Farmers Union: “Monopsony – the Other Silent Killer” 
· Dr. Rodolfo Ondarza (Mexico); former Representative, Mexico City Legislative Assembly: “Bacteriological Warfare and the Need for a Global Health System”
· George Koo (U.S.); retired international business advisor: “The Prospects for U.S. China Economic Cooperation” 
· Nick Brana (U.S.); National Chairman, People’s Party: “Citizens Action to Demand Congress Stop Funding the War” 
· Tony Magliano (U.S.); Internationally Syndicated Catholic Social Justice and Peace Columnist: “Compelling Catholic Church Reflections on Peace and Nuclear Disarmament” 
· Dr. Kirk Meighoo (Trinidad and Tobago); former senator: “Reviving the Bandung Spirit of the Non-Aligned” 

Question & Answer Session 


One Step Away from the Nuclear Annihilation of Mankind — A Christmas Truce for All!

The following statement was released on December 19, 2022, by the Schiller Institute to be circulated internationally in support of an international campaign for a Christmas truce and for accepting the Pope’s offer of the Vatican as venue for the immediate beginning of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, without any preconditions. It is available as a two-sided with the musical score of the Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace), a traditional canon, which can be sung at peace vigils everywhere. We encourage you to distribute the statement and send us back responses to info@schillerinstitute.org.

Political and social leaders from around the world, of different philosophical outlooks and religious faiths, are coming together in support of the offer of Pope Francis to use the venue of the Vatican for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine for a diplomatic settlement of the war in Ukraine. The confrontation between the U.S., NATO, and Russia has escalated to the point where one more step, even an unintended mistake, one misreading by one side or the other, could trigger the launching of the entire nuclear arsenals of both sides, leading to a global nuclear war, followed by a nuclear winter of about ten years, which would mean that in all likelihood not one human being would survive.

According to the U.S.-based Arms Control Association, citing senior U.S. Officials: “Biden has decided not to follow through on his 2020 pledge to declare that the sole purpose of nuclear weapons is to deter a nuclear attack against the United States or its allies. Instead, he approved a version of the policy from the Obama administration that leaves open the option to use nuclear weapons, not only in retaliation to a nuclear attack, but also to respond to non-nuclear threats.” The U.S. at no point in the past ever adopted a no-first-strike policy, and in the Bush as well as in the Trump administrations the option of a first strike existed in the security doctrine.

In response to the growing crisis and threats, Russian President Putin declared on December 9, in a press conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan that Russia will reconsider its current nuclear doctrine of using nuclear weapons only if attacked first with nuclear weapons by another party, or if the existence of the Russian state itself is threatened. Putin said Russia was now considering responding to the U.S. doctrine of preemptive first strike by having to adopt the same first strike policy. That means we are one step away from a thermonuclear catastrophe.

We call on all people of good will to support the offer of Pope Francis, which has been reiterated by Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, to use the venue of the Vatican for the immediate beginning of peace negotiations, without any preconditions.

A group of political and social leaders has just issued a public letter to Pope Francis in which they state that “we welcome Your Holiness’s offer of the Vatican as a possible neutral ground for peace talks – without any preconditions – between Russia and Ukraine… We note that others in Europe and the United States have also offered venues for the Russian and Ukrainian leadership to negotiate peace. We believe it is urgent to unify all such efforts into a globe-spanning movement to bring resolution to this conflict, taking into consideration the valid security interests of all parties.” They further called “on other political and social leaders around the world, regardless of differences in ideology or religious faith,” to join that effort.

We call on all men and women of good faith to join this call for a diplomatic solution. Also join our campaign to conduct choruses in the whole world to sing the canon for peace, “Dona Nobis Pacem.” May the voices for peace move the hearts and minds of those responsible.

Related Material

· Open Letter to Pope Francis From Political and Social Leaders: Support Call for Immediate Peace Negotiations

· One Step Away From the Nuclear Annihilation of Mankind! — by Helga Zepp-LaRouche

· Declaration of Current and Former Legislatures of the World: Stop the Danger of Nuclear War


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