Catholics Commemorate 75 Years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Showing the Catholics Commemorate 75 Years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki Video
Monday, August 3, 2020
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. EDT
Location:
Online Pre-recorded Webcast
This pre-recorded webcast featured:
- Most Reverend Mitsuaki Takami, archbishop of Nagasaki and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan
- Most Reverend David Malloy, bishop of the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois and chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
- Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love, associate professor of international relations at the Catholic University of America
On August 6 and 9, 1945, two atomic weapons were detonated over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombs shattered the cities, immediately killing upwards of 80,000 people in Hiroshima and 35,000 people in Nagasaki. For months and years afterward, people continued to die from burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries. On a visit to Nagasaki in November 2019, Pope Francis spoke forcefully on the abolition of nuclear weapons, saying “A world of peace, free from nuclear weapons, is the aspiration of millions of men and women everywhere. To make this ideal a reality calls for involvement on the part of all.” This year on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the bombings, prominent Catholics in the United States and Japan are working together in solidarity and friendship to promote a world free of nuclear weapons.
Building on the Holy Father’s appeal, this commemoration recalled in solidarity the tragic devastation wreaked by nuclear warfare. Archbishop Mitsuaki Takami and Bishop David Malloy offered short reflections on the meaning of the bombings today. Archbishop Takami recalled the personal tragedies inflicted on his family, Bishop Malloy spoke to the need for nuclear disarmament, and together they offered prayers for peace. The event was moderated by Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love and incorporated a visual memorial of the destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This event was hosted by Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, in partnership with the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Keough School of Global Affairs; Northwestern University’s Sheil Catholic Center; the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace; the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Office of International Justice and Peace; Catholic University of America’s Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies; the International Federation of Catholic Universities; and Pax Christi International. This is one of a series of initiatives of the Project on Revitalizing Catholic Engagement on Nuclear Disarmament.
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Atomic bomb exploding over Nagasaki. Photo courtesy of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.
Aerial view of Nagasaki before the bombing. Photo courtesy of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.
Aerial view of Nagasaki after the bombing. Photo courtesy of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.
Urakami Church destroyed during the bombing of Nagasaki. Photo courtesy of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.
Destruction of Urakami Church. Photo courtesy of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.
Burned victim of the atomic bomb. Photo courtesy of the late Mr. Katsuji Yoshida's family.
Burned victim of the atomic bomb. Photo courtesy of the late Mr. Sumiteru Taniguchi's family.
Dr. Takashi Nagai, a Catholic radiologist and author. Photo courtesy of the Nagai Takashi Memorial Museum.
Dr. Takashi Nagai, a Catholic radiologist and author. Photo courtesy of the Nagai Takashi Memorial Museum.
Pope John Paul II's visit in 1981 to Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Photo courtesy of the Nagasaki Shimbun.
Pope John Paul II's visit in 1981 to Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Photo courtesy of the Nagasaki Shimbun.
Pope John Paul II's speech at Hiroshima Peace Park. Photo courtesy of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of Japan.
Pope Francis' speech at Nagasaki Hypocenter Park. Photo courtesy of Nagasaki Prefecture.
Junshin high school students singing "One Thousand Paper Cranes" for the 67th anniversary of the bombing. From CTBTO.
Junshin high school students singing "One Thousand Paper Cranes" at Nagasaki Peace Park. Photo courtesy of CTBTO.
Origami Cranes at the Nagasaki Peace Ceremony on August 9, 2015. Photo courtesy of CTBTO.
Fountain of Peace at the Nagasaki Peace Park. Photo courtesy of Flickr user annintofu.
Lantern floating ceremony, on the Motoyasu River that runs below the Atomic Bomb Dome. By Flickr user Freedom II Andres.
"Bombed Mary," part of a statue of Mary, formally at the main alter of Urakami Church. From the Archdiocese of Nagasaki.
