As Russian President Vladimir Putin drafts thousands of young men into his army and rattles his nuclear sabre at the West, Olena Kycha continues waving her Ukrainian flag amid the rush hour traffic at the corner of Yonge and Bloor Streets in downtown Toronto.

Russia's war on Ukraine frighteningly raises the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons, the unleashing of radioactive material from nuclear power plants and a new push to develop or acquire nuclear weapons, including by terrorists, said members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

On the night of July 28, 2012, an 82-year-old nun, along with two men, slowly climbed up a thickly-wooded hill surrounding the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where enriched uranium was stored for use in nuclear weapons. They crawled through holes they cut in barbed-wire fences, walked to the main building and proceeded to spray-paint biblical slogans, wrap crime scene tape around pillars and hammer away at concrete.

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

The Canadian Council of Churches has again called on Canada to sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as the treaty became officially part of international law on Jan. 22.

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.

COVID-19 has put a damper on a lot of things the last few months. Add to that list eternity.

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.