Three-quarters of Canadians say their country should sign the UN nuclear weapons ban treaty even if the United States and NATO oppose it.

In these days of viral lockdowns and political unease, moments of celebration are hard to come by.

With the treaty banning nuclear weapons about to become international law, Global Affairs Canada has softened its opposition. But it’s still on the wrong side of history, according to Project Ploughshares executive director Cesar Jaramillo.

VATICAN CITY -- For peace to flourish, weapons of war must be set aside, especially nuclear weapons that can obliterate entire cities and countries, Pope Francis said on the 75th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.

CLEVELAND -- The path to true peace requires the world to abolish nuclear weapons, an American bishop and a Japanese archbishop said as the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings at the end of World War II approached.

Setsuko Thurlow, 88, isn’t just disappointed. She’s choking back tears of frustration and grief as she describes the response she’s had from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on nuclear disarmament over the last four years.

Over the years, we have heard the pleas of popes and Vatican officials to halt the worldwide production of weapons. In virtually every case, the urgency of the plea has been punctuated by the preface: “Now, more than ever ….”

WASHINGTON -- Members of a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee renewed a long-standing call for nuclear disarmament as the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of two Japanese cities neared.

WASHINGTON -- An effort is underway through nongovernmental channels to bring U.S. and Russian negotiators together to discuss new reductions in the countries' nuclear weapons arsenals, an official with the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development said during a visit to The Catholic University of America.

HIROSHIMA, Japan -- Saying it is "perverse" to think the threat of nuclear weapons makes the world safer, Pope Francis urged a renewed commitment to disarmament and to the international treaties designed to limit or eliminate nuclear weapons.

VATICAN CITY -- A commitment to defending and protecting human life requires a commitment to ending wars and to promoting nuclear disarmament, Pope Francis said.

UNITED NATIONS -- Expressing concern that arms control treaties are "abrogated and flouted," the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations called on global leaders to work to rid the world of nuclear weapons.