Pope calls nuclear weapons possession indefensible and perverse

Pope Francis, speaking in one of the only two cities hit by atomic bombs in history, appealed for the abolition of nuclear weapons on Sunday, saying their mere possession was perverse and indefensible.

In a message delivered at Nagasaki's Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park, ground zero of the bomb the United States dropped on Aug. 9, 1945, instantly killing 27,000 people, Francis also decried what he said was a dismantling of non-proliferation treaties.