Firearm News
Catholic Church Firmly, Quietly, Globally Opposes Firearms for Civilians
14 January 2011
Catholic News Service (Washington DC)
VATICAN CITY - The Catholic Church's position on gun control is not easy to find; there are dozens of speeches and talks and a few documents that call for much tighter regulation of the global arms trade, but what about private gun ownership?
The answer is resoundingly clear: Firearms in the hands of civilians should be strictly limited and eventually completely eliminated.
But you won't find that statement in a headline or a document subheading. It's almost hidden in... (GunPolicy.org)
Vatican Airs Campaign for International Gun Control, Global Gun Trade Treaty
5 June 2008
Vatican Radio, Audio
The Global Week of Action Against Small Arms, which began on Monday and ends June 9th, aims to link commitments by the International Action Network on Small Arms at the regional and global level with actions by national governments.
The project aims to raise awareness, campaign for better gun laws and push for stronger regulation of the global arms trade.
One of the organizations participating is Pax Christi International. Senior Policy Advisor Father Paul Lansou... (GunPolicy.org)
Vatican Guards More At Risk from Own Guns: Another Apparent Gun Suicide
3 September 2007
CNN / AP
VATICAN CITY, Italy — A cadet in the Vatican police force was found fatally shot in the head early Monday inside the barracks, in what officials said was an apparent suicide over a breakup with a girlfriend.
The incident rekindled memories of the 1998 murder-suicide behind the Vatican walls, in which a 23-year-old Swiss Guard allegedly killed his commander, the commander's wife and then himself over being denied a medal.
Colleagues found Alessandro Benedetti, 26,... (GunPolicy.org)
United Nations Gun Trade Conference Ends Without Final Agreement
15 July 2006
Zenit News Agency (Vatican)
NEW YORK — A recent United Nations conference reviewed progress on controlling trade in small arms but the countries didn't agree on a concluding document.
Held in New York from June 26 to July 7, the purpose of the meeting was to review the 2001 Program of Action on illicit trade in small arms.
Five years ago, the accepted plan established norms and programs on a number of issues, including preventing and combating the illicit production and trafficking of small... (GunPolicy.org)
US Catholic Gun Lobby Protests Vatican Support for Gun Control
30 June 2006
Catholic World News (Virginia)
An American Catholic group has issued a strong protest against Vatican support for gun-control efforts.
The St. Gabriel Possenti Society, a Virginia-based organization devoted to protecting the individual's right to self-defense, criticized statements by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Holy See's representative at the UN, endorsing "the promotion of disarmament" and calling for stiffer international controls on the sale and possession of firearms.
John Snyder,... (GunPolicy.org)
Illicit Gun Trade a Threat to Peace and Development, Says Vatican
30 June 2006
Indian Catholic
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican's Permanent Observer to the United Nations on Thursday addressed the UN Review Conference in New York on the illegal trade of small arms and light weapons. Here is the text of his speech.
All of us here have a great responsibility, born of the awareness that the outcome of this meeting may well have a long term impact upon a process which, since 2001, has given a strong initial impulse to the new international small arms and... (GunPolicy.org)
Global Campaign Aims to Curb Gunrunning
16 March 2006
Vatican Radio
VATICAN — A world-wide campaign for stricter small arms controls began officially on Thursday, 100 days before a major UN conference that will look at ways to address violations of existing small arms agreements and consider ways of altering those agreements to make them more effective. A leading campaigner is Saverian Missionary Father Nicola Colasuonno … [radio news item... (GunPolicy.org)
At United Nations, Vatican Takes Aim at Small-Arms Trafficking
21 January 2006
Zenit News (Vatican)
NEW YORK — Sometimes it's the little things that count, and that's true also when it comes to armaments. For two weeks, Jan. 9-20, the United Nations has been reviewing progress made in reducing the trade in small arms.
U.N. estimates reckon there are more than 600 million small arms and light weapons in circulation worldwide. They come from a variety of sources, including illicit trading, leftovers from conflicts, and theft from military and police armories.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Trade 'A Key Issue' for Vatican under Pope Benedict XVI
11 January 2006
ISN Security Watch (Zurich), Web Page
VATICAN — The Vatican's permanent representative at the UN has called for the development of an international accord limiting the trade of light arms. Observers and officials working in the Holy See say the move demonstrates that the Vatican is looking to increase its visibility in international affairs.
Archbishop Celestino Migliore on Monday told the UN it should foster international cooperation aimed at reducing the demand for small arms around the world, a break... (GunPolicy.org)
Vatican Urges United Nations Study Into Causes of Global Gun Race
11 January 2006
Catholic News Agency
In an address to the United Nations, Holy See Permanent Observer Archbishop Celestino Migliore, called on the world body to more thoroughly analyse the reasons behind demand for small arms, so as to eradicate their illicit trade.
Catholic News Agency reports that Archbishop Migliore's address was given in New York to a committee reviewing progress made in the implementation of the Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and... (GunPolicy.org)
Vatican,United Nations,United States
US Gun Lobbyist Rips Vatican Stance at UN
14 August 2005
Catholic World News (Massachusetts)
WASHINGTON — An American expert on gun laws has sharply criticized the Vatican's representative at the UN, saying that by endorsing an international gun-control scheme. Archbishop Celestino Migliore cooperated in "a direct attack on the God-given right of law-abiding citizens to self-defense."
John Michael Snyder, a veteran gun lobbyist, took issue with Archbishop Migliore for his statements in support of the proposed UN Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and... (GunPolicy.org)
Vatican Urges Pact Against Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons
9 July 2003
Zenit News
NEW YORK — The Vatican proposed to the international community that an agreement be adopted to eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.
The request came during an address by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Holy See's permanent observer at the United Nations, at the first U.N. biennial meeting of states on trade in these arms.
The archbishop made two proposals. The first is to address the issue of state responsibility for halting illicit arms... (GunPolicy.org)
Vatican Protests Over 'Holy' Gun
7 December 1999
Times (UK)
Vatican officials protested yesterday against the use of the term "Jubilee" or "Holy Year" as the brand name for the latest 12-bore, doublebarrelled Beretta shotgun, declaring that the Pope was against the use of firearms and had not given his blessing to "this marketing ploy".
Italians call the millennium Il Gubileo (the Jubilee), a reference to the fact that the Pope has declared 2000 a "Holy Year".
The Vatican has allowed the use of the papal logo on officially... (GunPolicy.org)
Vatican Suicide Raises Security Fears for Holy Year
27 August 1999
Reuters
VATICAN CITY — The suicide of a man who managed to smuggle a gun into St Peter's Basilica has raised security concerns for the church and Vatican City four months before the start of the Holy Year.
During the millennium celebrations, which begin officially next December 24 and end on January 6, 2001, Rome is expecting to welcome some 30 million visitors, about five times the number who come to the capital in a normal year.
Most of them will want above all to go to... (GunPolicy.org)
Vatican Says Grudge, Not Sex, Behind Guard Slaying
5 May 1998
CNN
VATICAN CITY — The head of the pope's Swiss Guard was shot with his wife in "a moment of madness" by a young vice-corporal with a grudge against his superiors, the Vatican said Tuesday.
It said hurt professional pride, not sexual jealousy, apparently drove vice-corporal Cedric Tornay, 23, to kill the couple before turning his gun on himself.
Captain Commandant Alois Estermann, 43, who shielded Pope John Paul II during a 1981 assassination attempt, was shot dead in... (GunPolicy.org)