Pope calls for peaceful use of nuclear energy on Chernobyl 40th anniversary

By Devin Watkins

As he prayed the Regina Caeli in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV called for the responsible use of nuclear energy.

His appeal came on the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which he said “marked the conscience of humanity.”

“We entrust to God’s mercy the victims and all those who still suffer its consequences,” he said.

On April 26, 1986, a reactor exploded at the Soviet-run Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located some 90 kilometers north of Kyiv in Ukraine, killing 31 people immediately and another 15,000 over the next several years from radiation poisoning.

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In his appeal, Pope Leo warned about the risk of using increasingly powerful technologies.

He expressed his hopes that discernment and responsible decision-making may be carried out regarding nuclear energy.

“I hope that at all levels of decision-making, discernment and responsibility may always prevail, so that every use of atomic energy may be at the service of life and peace,” said the Pope.