Holy See urges 'moratorium' on development of autonomous killing weapons at United Nations

Pope Francis met with top comedians at the Vatican on Friday to encourage them to "spread peace" in the midst of "gloomy" news. A delegation representing the Holy See urged the United Nations this week to put a moratorium on autonomous weapons designed to kill without human decision-making. Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the Holy See's Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva, gave the warning Monday during an expert session on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). "For the Holy See, autonomous weapons systems cannot be considered as morally responsible entities," Balestrero explained. "The human person, endowed with reason, possesses a unique capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision-making that cannot be replicated by any set of algorithms, no matter how complex." POPE FRANCIS SAYS INTENTIONALLY ALLOWING MIGRANTS TO DIE IS A'GRAVE SIN' The Vatican City flag flies outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City.