WASHINGTON - Today the United Nations Security Council approved its first-ever resolution to reinforce the international norm against the testing of nuclear weapons.

Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace, welcomed the action of the U.N. Security Council. "The Conference of Bishops has long supported U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and welcomes the action of the U.N. Security Council as encouraging this important step toward a world without nuclear weapons," Bishop Cantú said.

Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the opening for signature of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Since then, 183 countries, including the United States, have become signatories to the Treaty, and 166 have ratified it.

The Holy See has signed and ratified the CTBT. The United States has signed, but not yet ratified, the Treaty.

More information on the work of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace on nuclear weapons is available at: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/war-and-peace/nuclear-weapons/index.cfm.