(ANSA) - Vatican City, November 10 - Pope Francis told a Vatican symposium on nuclear disarmament Friday that nuclear weapons must be stopped because they posed a threat to humankind. "We can only feel a keen sense of disquiet if we consider the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences that derive from any use of nuclear devices," he said, as Nobel prize winner attending the event appealed for an end to nukes.

The pope stressed their "existence is functional to a logic of fear that does not regard the parties in conflict but the whole human race".

Francis said the existence and possible use of weapons of mass destruction was "illogical militarily".

He underscored that "relations between states cannot be dominated by intimidation".

The pontiff also said "effective and inclusive progress can make possible the utopia of a world devoid of deadly instruments of attack, despite the criticism of those who deem idealistic the process of dismantling arsenals". Francis received the participants in the major international symposium on Friday. Sponsored by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the two-day conference on "Prospects for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament" brings together experts, activists, politicians, pastors and thought leaders to explore the possibilities for achieving disarmament in the 21st century, Vatican radio said.

In other remarks, the pope said that "international relations cannot be held captive to military force, mutual intimidation, and the parading of stockpiles of arms. Francis stressed that "Weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, create nothing but a false sense of security. "They cannot constitute the basis for peaceful coexistence between members of the human family, which must rather be inspired by an ethics of solidarity (cf. Message to the United Nations Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, 27 March 2017). "Essential in this regard is the witness given by the Hibakusha, the survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, together with other victims of nuclear arms testing. "May their prophetic voice serve as a warning, above all for coming generations!", the Argentinian pontiff declared.

Nobel prize winners attending the symposium appealed for an end to nuclear weapons.

"The only way to ensure sustainable world peace and to prevent nuclear arms spreading and being used is to ban them," they said.

In a statement handed to Pope Francis, they stressed the need to "build an inclusive and fair international security system, in which no country feels the need to resort to nuclear weapons".

