United Kingdom: world arms fair in London. The Bishops’ denounce, “complicit in fuelling conflicts”

“Pope Francis reminds us that, while it may sometimes be legitimate to provide military assistance for countries to defend themselves against aggression, promoting the sale of weapons for profit is immoral and inflicts grave harm upon our human family”. With these words, contained in a release, the Department for International Affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales criticised the UK’s decision to host the “Eurosatory Defence Exhibition”, one of the most important arms fairs in the world, in the ExCel Centre in London’s old docks from 12 to 15 September. The event, which is promoted as “Dsei”, is a date that has been held for twenty-four years now, and this time it will bring together over 2,800 security and defence companies and over 230 new exhibitors, including governments, armies and major armament manufacturers. “Through hosting one of the world’s largest arms fairs, our country is complicit in fuelling conflicts around the world which destroy lives, drive people from their homes, trap communities in poverty, and damage the environment”, Bishops Declan Lang and Nicholas Hudson wrote in their release, on behalf of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. “We once again send our prayers and best wishes to all those who, inspired by Christ’s call to be peacemakers, are opposing the arms fair”.
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