On April 8, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences issued a statement, “Preventing Nuclear War and War Against Civilian Populations: Also a Task for the Sciences.” The academy, established in 1936, is an advisory body whose members include non-Catholics.

“Humankind is again confronted with a grave threat, arising from armed conflicts and the acute war that Russia has inflicted on Ukraine,” the statement begins. “The possibility of nuclear war has been raised by the aggressors.”