Pope’s nuke message reaches Nagasaki, Hiroshima
Credit to Author: Agence France-Presse| Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2019 16:13:08 +0000
NAGASAKI: Pope Francis visited Nagasaki and Hiroshima on Sunday to preach the dangers of nuclear weapons against the backdrop of two cities uniquely associated with the devastation of the atomic bomb.
The pope arrived in Japan late Saturday on the second leg of an Asia tour that began in Thailand, and his four-day visit is expected to focus heavily on the theme of peace and religious tolerance.
Even before his arrival in Japan, the Argentine pontiff railed in a video message to the Japanese people against the “immoral” use of nuclear weapons.
“Together with you, I pray that the destructive power of nuclear weapons will never be unleashed again in human history,” said the head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.
He began his day in Nagasaki, where he was expected to evoke the horrific destruction and human toll of the twin bomb attacks in a call for a world free of nuclear weapons.
At least 74,000 people were killed in Hiroshima, and 140,000 people in Nagasaki when the United States dropped nuclear weapons on them at the end of World War 2.
Francis delivered his remarks near the site of the attack in Nagasaki and visited Hiroshima for an address at the world-famous peace memorial.
Among the audience were survivors of the attack, known in Japanese as hibakusha, as well as relatives of those killed in the devastating bombings.
Minoru Moriuchi was just eight when the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, and he still recalls the horror of finding his aunt and two cousins dead in the aftermath.
“I never forgot this sight — their bodies were reddish black and completely burnt,” he told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Like many hibakusha, the 82-year-old fears that the lessons of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima attacks risk being lost when the last generation of survivors dies.
“The Pope never meddles with politics, but I hope people listening to his message will think seriously about the nuclear issue,” he said.
Shigeru Tokuyasu, a former minister at the Japanese Embassy to the Holy See, said the pope wields an almost unique ability to focus international attention on an issue like nuclear weapons.
“He has the ability to reach out to people across the world,” he told AFP before the pope’s arrival.
“I don’t think his visit will immediately help reduce nuclear arms, but it will be a step forward. It will help change the ‘globalisation of indifference’.”
In Nagasaki the pope also delivered a Mass at the city’s baseball stadium and offered a message of religious tolerance in a country where Christianity is very much a minority faith.
AFP