The scars still borne by survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and still visible on the cities’ streets and buildings are a plea to pursue peace and disarmament, Pope Leo XIV said yesterday. Source: OSV News.
“True peace demands the courageous laying down of weapons – especially those with the power to cause an indescribable catastrophe,” the Pope wrote in a message to Bishop Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama of Hiroshima.
“Nuclear arms offend our shared humanity and also betray the dignity of creation, whose harmony we are called to safeguard,” he wrote in the message released yesterday.
The Pope’s message was sent as people gathered from around the world to solemnly mark the 80th anniversary of the United States bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.
The bombings killed more than 150,000 people, mostly civilians, and left the cities in ruins.
In his message, Pope Leo conveyed “sentiments of respect and affection for the hibakusha (survivors) of the bombings, “whose stories of loss and suffering are a timely summons to all of us to build a safer world and foster a climate of peace”.
The Pope noted how even after 80 years, “the two cities remain living reminders of the profound horrors wrought by nuclear weapons. Their streets, schools and homes still bear scars – both visible and spiritual – from that fateful August of 1945.”
“In this context,” he said, “I hasten to reiterate the words so often used by my beloved predecessor Pope Francis: ‘War is always a defeat for humanity.’”
Today, at a time of “mounting global tensions and conflicts,” he wrote, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are signs “that urge us to reject the illusion of security founded on mutually assured destruction. Instead, we must forge a global ethic rooted in justice, fraternity and the common good”.
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Pope calls for nuclear disarmament, real commitment to peace (By Cindy Wooden, OSV News)
