Presiding Bishop joins religious leaders praising Bush administration for North Korea agreement

July 17, 2007 [National Religious Partnership on the Nuclear Weapons] A group of prominent religious leaders including Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori released a statement July 17 congratulating the Bush administration for successful diplomatic efforts toward the denuclearization of North Korea and urging the administration to apply a similar strategy to the Iranian nuclear standoff.

The statement coincided with the July 16 announcement that North Korea has begun to dismantle its nuclear facilities under international inspection, to fulfill its obligations under the February 2007 denuclearization agreement.

In addition to Jefferts Schori, signatories included the Rev. John L. McCullough, executive director of Church World Service; the Most Rev. Thomas G. Wenski, chair of the Committee on International Policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; and Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, national director of the Islamic Society of North America.

"The agreement with North Korea demonstrates the value of diplomacy in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons," the statement reads. "It validates the preferential use of words, rather than war, as a response to conflict. Our religious traditions teach that efforts should be made to explore every alternative in resolving a conflict before going to war."

The statement was shepherded by the National Religious Partnership on the Nuclear Weapons Danger (NRPN), a multi-faith coalition devoted to ending the nuclear weapons danger. The full text of the statement and its signatories is available here.