Página principal  |  Contacto  

Correo electrónico:

Contraseña:

Registrarse ahora!

¿Has olvidado tu contraseña?

FORO LIBREPENSADOR SIN CENSURA
 
Novedades
  Únete ahora
  Panel de mensajes 
  Galería de imágenes 
 Archivos y documentos 
 Encuestas y Test 
  Lista de Participantes
 GENERAL 
 REGLAS DE ESTE FORO LIBRE 
 Panel de quejas 
 CONCORDANCIAS BIBLICAS 
 PANEL DEL ADMINISTRADOR BARILOCHENSE 6999 
 
 
  Herramientas
 
General: POPE FRANCIS AT NAGASAKI AND HIROSHIMA MAKES IMPASSIONED PLEA FOR PEACE
Elegir otro panel de mensajes
Tema anterior  Tema siguiente
Respuesta  Mensaje 1 de 3 en el tema 
De: BARILOCHENSE6999  (Mensaje original) Enviado: 21/07/2024 05:54
Pope Francis speaks during a meeting for peace at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, Japan, Nov. 24, 2019. Pope Francis speaks during a meeting for peace at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, Japan, Nov. 24, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) 

From Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the only two cities in the world to be destroyed by atomic bombs, Pope Francis made an impassioned appeal for the total elimination of nuclear arms. “The use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral, just as the possession of atomic weapons is immoral,” he said. “We will be judged on this.”

The pope spoke at the rain-drenched Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park in Nagasaki on the morning of Nov. 24, near the spot where the United States dropped the second bomb on Aug. 9, 1945, instantly killing 27,000 people. Pope Francis declared that “the possession of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction is not the answer” to humanity’s deepest desire for “security, peace and stability.” In the evening, he visited the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, honoring the tens of thousands killed by an atomic bomb there, too.

Ever since becoming pope in 2013, Francis wanted to come to these two sites of unprecedented destruction and suffering. He realized that wish today, and in speeches at both locations addressed the threat and use of nuclear arms, the ideology of mutually assured destruction, the arms race and the search for world peace. He is the second pope to come to these sites after John Paul II, who came in 1981.

Nagasaki

Pope Francis visited Nagasaki first, a city of some 400,000 people in the hill country that is the historic heartland of Catholicism in Japan and home to many martyrs.

He arrived at the park in the morning amid driving rain. There, at a place near the epicenter of the bomb explosion, Francis laid a wreath and prayed in silence in memory of those killed on that day. Then, after lighting a candle, he read his speech in Spanish to a crowd of some 200 Japanese, and to a global audience following on television.

Francis stated that “the possession of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction is not the answer” to humanity’s desire for security, stability and peace in the world. Indeed, he said, “our world is marked by a perverse dichotomy that tries to defend and ensure stability and peace through a false sense of security sustained by a mentality of fear and mistrust, one that ends up poisoning relationships between peoples and obstructing any form of dialogue.”

He declared that “peace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build upon the fear of mutual destruction or the threat of total annihilation.”

Recalling “the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences of a nuclear attack” that Nagasaki witnessed, Francis said, “our attempts to speak out against the arms race will never be enough.”

He went on to forcefully denounce the arms race because “in a world where millions of children and families live in inhumane conditions, the money that is squandered and the fortunes made through the manufacture, upgrading, maintenance and sale of ever more destructive weapons, are an affront crying out to heaven.”

 

“In a world where millions of children and families live in inhumane conditions, the money that is squandered and the fortunes made through the manufacture, upgrading, maintenance and sale of ever more destructive weapons, are an affront crying out to heaven.”

 

He stated unequivocally that “the Catholic Church is irrevocably committed to promoting peace between peoples and nations.” He insisted that “we must never grow weary of working to support the principal international legal instruments of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, including the Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons.” He recalled with approval that last July “the bishops of Japan launched an appeal for the abolition of nuclear arms.”

Then, saying he is personally convinced that “a world without nuclear weapons is possible and necessary,” Pope Francis called on the world’s political leaders “not to forget that these weapons cannot protect us from current threats to national and international security.” He called on them “to ponder the catastrophic impact of their deployment, especially from a humanitarian and environmental standpoint, and reject heightening a climate of fear, mistrust and hostility fomented by nuclear doctrines.” He emphasized the need to create instruments “for ensuring trust and reciprocal development” and the need for “leaders capable of rising to these occasions.”

The Vatican has expressed increasing concern about U.S. President Donald Trump’s continuing delay in beginning talks with Russia on extending or renewing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and for allowing the U.S.-Russian treaty on intermediate-range weapons to expire.

The pope invited people to join him “in praying each day for the conversion of hearts and for the triumph of a culture of life, reconciliation and fraternity,” and suggested that they make their own the prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi: “Lord make me an instrument of your peace.”

From there, Francis went to the memorial of the Nagaski martyrs, whose memories had so inspired him as a young man that he wanted to come to Japan as a missionary, and then celebrated Mass in a baseball stadium.

Hiroshima

Later in the afternoon he took a one-hour plane ride from Nagaski to Hiroshima, a city of almost 2 million people. The sun had set when he arrived at the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, which stands under the place where the United States, in agreement with the United Kingdom, dropped the world’s first atomic bomb that immediately killed between 60,000 and 80,000 people and a total of 140,000 by the end of that year.

Victims of the 1945 atomic bombing observe a moment of silence during a meeting for peace led by Pope Francis at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, Japan, Nov. 24, 2019. Victims of the 1945 atomic bombing observe a moment of silence during a meeting for peace led by Pope Francis at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, Japan, Nov. 24, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

It was evening when Pope Francis reached the memorial. Some 1,500 Japanese were present for the solemn event, together with 20 religious leaders and 20 survivors of that bombing. There was a long period of great silence as Francis greeted all the survivors one by one, and embraced one woman who was in tears. Francis then laid flowers in memory of the victims and prayed in silence. He then lit a candle made by the Roman Curia for the occasion. Then everyone was invited to stand for a moment of silence as a gong sounded.

Then two survivors, Yoshiko Kajimoto who was 14, and Kojí Hosokawa, who was 17

and living in Hiroshima when the bomb exploded, described with dignity and emotion their terrible experience to Francis.

Ms. Kajimoto was working in a factory when the bomb was dropped. She was buried under timber and tiles, but eventually managed to get free. “When I went outside, all the surrounding buildings were destroyed,” she told the pope. “It was as dark as evening and smelled like rotten fish.”

Helping evacuate the injured, she saw “people walking side by side like ghosts, people whose whole body was so burnt that I could not tell the difference between men and women, their hair standing on end, their faces swollen to double size, their lips hanging loose, with both hands held out with burnt skin hanging from them.”

“No one in this world can imagine such a scene of hell,” she said.

Mr. Hosokawa, was not able to attend the ceremony with the pope, but his testimony was read out: “I think everyone should realize that the atomic bombs were dropped, not on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but on all humanity,” he wrote.

After listening to the two testimonies, Francis began by saying “peace be with you” and recalling what happened when the bomb fell: “In barely an instant, everything was devoured by a black hole of destruction and death. From that abyss of silence, we continue even today to hear the cries of those who are no longer. They came from different places, had different names, and some spoke different languages. Yet all were united in the same fate, in a terrifying hour that left its mark forever not only on the history of this country, but on the face of humanity.”

 

 

He told those present, “I felt a duty to come here as a pilgrim of peace, to stand in silent prayer, to recall the innocent victims of such violence, and to bear in my heart the prayers and yearnings of the men and women of our time, especially the young, who long for peace, who work for peace and who sacrifice themselves for peace. I have come to this place of memory and of hope for the future, bringing with me the cry of the poor who are always the most helpless victims of hatred and conflict.”

He denounced “the use of atomic energy for purposes of war” as “a crime” against humanity and “immoral.” He added, “so too the possession of nuclear weapons is immoral, as I said already two years ago.”

Nine states have nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea. The United States and Russia together have 14,000 of the 15,000 nuclear weapons known to exist in the world and 2,000 of these are said to be still on “high alert.” Francis has expressed deep concerned that such weapons could be triggered by accident or human error, and so in Nov. 2017 he categorically condemned not only “the threat of their use” but also “their very possession,” the first pope to do so.

He told his global audience in Hiroshima, “future generations will rise to condemn our failure if we spoke of peace but did not act to bring it about among the peoples of the earth. How can we speak of peace even as we build terrifying new weapons of war? How can we speak about peace even as we justify illegitimate actions by speeches filled with discrimination and hate?”

Pope Francis prayed that “the abyss of pain endured here may remind us of boundaries that must never be crossed.”

At the day’s end, Pope Francis took the one-hour plane ride to Tokyo, where tomorrow he will meet the emperor and prime minister of Japan.



Primer  Anterior  2 a 3 de 3  Siguiente   Último  
Respuesta  Mensaje 2 de 3 en el tema 
De: BARILOCHENSE6999 Enviado: 21/07/2024 06:00
Pope calls for nuclear disarmament in Japan – Christian Campaign for  Nuclear Disarmament

Respuesta  Mensaje 3 de 3 en el tema 
De: BARILOCHENSE6999 Enviado: 24/09/2024 02:45

Hiroshima, Nagasaki Hope Pope Francis’ Visit Boosts Nuclear Abolition Campaign

Published

  

on

 

 

Pope Francis is set to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only two cities in the world that have suffered atomic bombing, when he comes to Japan in late November 2019. 

 

What anti-nuclear messages will the Pope, as the head of more than 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide, deliver? Attention will be particularly focused on what kind of appeal for peace he conveys in front of the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims there.

 

His message takes on increasing importance, especially at a time when the world appears to have re-entered the nuclear arms race.

 

As it stands, the United States and Russia are pulling out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and China, which has never been a party to the treaty, continues to build its nuclear forces unabated. Meanwhile, North Korea and Iran are both going against world opinion to develop their own nuclear weapons. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a landmark international agreement meant to prevent the spread of nuclear arms, seems to be in a meltdown as the preparatory meeting for the treaty’s 2020 review conference failed to produce any concrete outcome in May. 

 

Can the pontiff, as the spiritual head of the Roman Catholic Church — the largest of all branches of Christianity worldwide — stem the tide of the ongoing spread of nuclear weapons and help us take a major step toward a nuclear-free world?

 

 

November 24 Visit

 

Japanese media have reported that, during his four-day stay in Japan, Pope Francis, 82, will visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki on November 24, 2019, to offer prayers for the victims of the atomic attacks on the two cities. The attacks took place on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, at the end of World War II.

 

In Tokyo on November 25, Francis is also expected to meet Japan’s new Emperor Naruhito, who ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

 

About 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and around 74,000 were killed in Nagasaki by the atomic bombs dropped in 1945. As of the end of March 2019, 145,844 living victims held Atomic Bomb Survivor’s certificates, falling below 150,000 for the first time since the end of the war. The average age of survivors was 82.65, meaning hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) are fast aging.

 

The papal visit will become the second time in history for any pontiff to visit Japan. 

 

Pope John Paul II journeyed to Japan in February 1981. At the time, John Paul II made the Appeal for Peace in front of the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The Appeal for Peace calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons greatly impressed people all around the world and brought the Pope fame as an ardent messenger of peace.

 

It is well-known that Pope Francis is also a strong advocate of world peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons. During the 2017 holidays, Pope Francis circulated an impressive photograph taken in 1945 showing a young Japanese boy standing in line at a crematorium in Nagasaki with his dead brother tied to his back. 

 

The powerful image is likely still fresh in many people’s minds. The little child on the boy’s back was killed when the U.S. bombed Nagasaki with atomic weapons. The Pope asked to put a note — “The fruit of war” — on the back of the card printed with the photo.

 

 

What the Two Cities Want from the Pope

 

What exactly do people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki want from the Pope during his journey to the atomic bomb sites?

 

“The Pope’s visit will surely encourage those of us who continue efforts to prevent a repetition of the tragedy of atomic bombs,” Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said in an interview with the Tokyo-based foreign press corps, including this writer, on July 17.

 

“We hope the Pope will deliver a strong message after he receives the hibakusha's wish for the abolition of nuclear weapons and for lasting world peace,” Matsui added.

 

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue shared his view. 

 

“We are very delighted to see our wishes for the Pope’s visit to Japan come true,” Taue said in an interview on July 18. “The Pope is an ardent advocate of a world without nuclear weapons, so we hope he will deliver that message to the world from the two cities that were bombed with atomic weapons.”

 

“We also hope the Pope will convey our message, ‘Let Nagasaki be the last atomic bombing site,’” Taue added.

 

Taue said John Paul II left a strong message — “War is the work of man” — in his Appeal for Peace in Japan in 1981, meaning the atomic bombings were the work of man, not of God, and we can prevent their recurrence through the human hand.

 

“We hope Pope Francis will make historic remarks, just like John Paul II, so that we can transmit his message of peace by word of mouth onto the next generation,” Taue said.

 

 

Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region

 

Taue also expressed hope that the Pope would talk about the Hidden Christian Sites in Nagasaki and the Amakusa Region, which were registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.

 

They were “hidden” Christians, Japanese who secretly practiced their religion through 250 years of suppression from the 17th to the 19th centuries. These Christians have been brought to the world’s attention in recent years, with the help of the major Hollywood filmSilence.

 

The movie, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by the Japanese novelist Shusaku Endo, teaches the audience the preciousness of freedom of religion as one of our basic human rights.

 

Still, Nagasaki Mayor Taue said, the rest of the world has not fully understood the significance of this world heritage in Nagasaki. He hopes the Pope will deliver a message about its meaning for the international community.

 

Pope Francis is also expected to visit Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki City, which is located about 500 meters to the northeast of ground zero. It’s now rebuilt, but the cathedral was completely destroyed in an instant by the atomic bombing.

 

The bombing killed an estimated 8,500 of the church’s 12,000 followers. The cathedral was rebuilt in 1959 and it is now one of the largest Catholic churches in Japan.

 

“The pilot of the U.S. plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki was actually a Catholic,” said Joseph Mitsuaki Takami in an interview. Takami is the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan and Archbishop of Nagasaki.

 

“He even received the blessing of a priest when the plane took off. What a shame! He had a blessing in order to kill people,” mourned Takami, 73. He himself experienced the atomic bombing while still in the womb. His aunt and grandmother were killed by the bombing.

 

“The U.S. knew tens of thousands of the church’s Catholic followers would die by the plutonium bomb,” Takami said. “After the war, the U.S. wanted to leave no trace of the bombing of the church, and so Nagasaki City decided to remove the ruins of the church. The U.S. government still tries not to show the devastation caused by the atomic bombs to the American public. It is a real shame.”

 

Visitors can see the statue of the Virgin Mary that was damaged in the atomic bombing. It’s now enshrined in a chapel in the cathedral.

 

“In recent years, more American high school students have visited the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, and they show their tears,” Takami said with the hope for the nuclear-free future.

 

 

Author: Kosuke Takahashi, Tokyo correspondent of IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly

https://japan-forward.com/hiroshima-nagasaki-hope-pope-franciss-visit-boosts-nuclear-abolition-campaign/


 
©2024 - Gabitos - Todos los derechos reservados