Press conference "Preparing the future, building peace in the time of COVID-19"

A press conference entitled "Preparing the future, building peace at the time of COVID-19" was held on Tuesday, July 7, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. at the Holy See Press Office.

The speakers were: Card. Peter K.A. Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and President of the Vatican Covid-19 Commission; Sister Alessandra Smerilli, Coordinator of the Economics Task-force of the Vatican Covid-19 Commission and Full Professor of Political Economics at the Pontifical Faculty of Education Sciences Auxilium; Dr. Alessio Pecorario, Coordinator of the Security Task-force of the Vatican Covid-19 Commission and Official of the Dicastery.

The press conference was held as part of the initiatives of the Vatican COVID-19 Commission, in order to relaunch the Holy Father's message on the theme of peace and disarmament with a view to greater investment in public health and health care facilities.

"Now, in the context of a global pandemic, it is not the time to produce weapons," began Alessio Pecorario. "Yet global military spending has been 1.9 trillion dollars (300 times the WHO budget) and some still call for an increase in military spending to counter the COVID-19". 

Sister Alessandra Smerilli, in this regard, reiterated: "Pope Francis asked us for creative solutions. And so we ask ourselves: if instead of making the arms race, we should make the race towards food, health and work security? What are people really asking at this moment?".

Card. Peter K.A. Turkson recalled how today more than ever it is necessary "to promote the culture of encounter in which we discover ourselves as a human family, sharing the same values. Solidarity. Trust. Encounter. Common good. Peace". These are - concluded the Prefect of DPIHD - "the pillars of human security!".