Hiroshima bishop, mayor urge
for peace and denuclearization
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| The event at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on the 74th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb (ANSA) |
On the 74th anniversary of the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, Hiroshima’s mayor and bishop have called for working for peace
and nuclear disarmament.
By Robin Gomes
The Catholic Church of Japan is commemorating the 74th anniversary
of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with prayers and
appeals for a future of peace and nuclear disarmament.
"Together with the faithful of my diocese, I am deeply
grateful to those who offer their prayers and activities for peace in the
world, on August 6 and 9, on the 74th anniversary of the atomic bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Bishop Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama of Hiroshima told
AsiaNews.
“I feel that this is an important moment to pray and work
together for peace and denuclearization, in evoking these memories," he
said, as the Church in Japan is marking its annual “Ten Days for Peace”, August
6-15, in commemoration of the tragedy and its victims.
The U.S. attack on Hiroshima killed an estimated 140,000
people. Another bomb on Nagasaki, three days later, claimed an estimated
70,000 lives before Japan's surrender ended World War II.
Hiroshima commemoration
On Tuesday, Mayor Kazumi Matsui delivered a peace address,
raising concerns about the rise of self-centred politics in the world and
urging leaders to steadily work toward achieving a world without atomic
weapons.
"Around the world today, we see self-centred
nationalism in ascendance, tensions heightened by international exclusivity and
rivalry, with nuclear disarmament at a standstill," Matsui said in his
peace address at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
With some 50,000 people and representatives from about 90
countries in attendance, Hiroshima’s mayor urged the younger generations
never to dismiss the atomic bombings and the war as mere events of history but
think of them as their own, while calling on the world leaders to come and
visit the nuclear bombed cities to learn what happened.
Matsui also demanded Japan's government represent the wills
of atomic bombing survivors and sign a U.N. nuclear weapons ban treaty.
Korean peninsula
The Hiroshima anniversary ceremony came hours after North
Korea launched suspected ballistic missiles in its fourth round of recent
weapons demonstrations. The activity follows a stalemate in negotiations over
its nuclear weapons.
In his remarks to AsiaNews, Bishop Shirahama also addressed
the problem on the Korean peninsula, hoping for a faster realization of the
agreement reached this year between North Korea and the United States on
denuclearization.
“I continue to pray to God and to offer everything that can
be done every day, with God and with all the people who share the same
intention," he said.
Pope’s proposed Japanese visit
Pope Francis said in January he would be visiting Japan in
November, though there has been no official confirmation of the trip.
It would be the first papal trip to Japan in nearly 39 years since Pope
St. John Paul II visited the country in February 1981.
The Japanese Catholic Church’s “Ten Days for Peace” was the
response of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan to Pope John Paul’s
appeal at Hiroshima on 25 February 1981.
A similar appeal is expected from Pope Francis in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki during the proposed visit.
“Ten Days for Peace”
In a message for this year’s “Ten Days for Peace”, released
in July, the Japanese bishops are appealing for peace which they say is the
fruit of the integral development of all people.
“International peace and stability cannot be based on a
false sense of security, on the threat of mutual destruction or total
annihilation, or on simply maintaining a balance of power,” the Japanese
bishops say, citing the address of Pope Francis on 25 September 2015, to the
United Nations General Assembly.
“Peace must be built on justice, on integral human
development, on respect for fundamental human rights, on the protection of
creation, on the participation of all in public life, on trust between peoples,
on the support of peaceful institutions, on access to education and health, on
dialogue and solidarity.”
The bishops pledged to unite with Pope Francis in praying
that they be able to build peace by being deeply involved in the integral
development of all while seeking the realization of the abolition of nuclear
weapons.
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