US archbishops lead 'Pilgrimage of Peace' to Japan

Photo credit: Archdiocese of Seattle

Source: Pax Christi USA

Two archbishops from the United States are visiting Japan on a 'Pilgrimage of Peace', hoping to promote global nuclear disarmament by visiting the sites of the only use of atomic bombs in warfare. Each year, the horrific events of 6 and 9 August 1945 are remembered, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only time nuclear weapons have been used against human targets.

Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle, Washington, are travelling from 31 July - 12 August to the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Akita, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Joining the archbishops are representatives from archdiocesan offices and various organisations focusing on nuclear disarmament and social justice.

The pilgrimage features a Novena for Nuclear Disarmament, prayers for which are available in English on the trip's website. According to the website, the pilgrimage's mission is to "establish an ecclesial and personal relationship with the bishops of Japan to work toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, expressing our heartfelt sorrow for the devastating experiences endured by their nation."

An estimated 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, followed by a second atomic bomb three days later in Nagasaki, which left 74,000 people dead. Survivors, known as 'hibakusha', have faced numerous physical and psychological ailments in the bombings' aftermath, which led to Japan's unconditional surrender to the United States and its allies.

Archbishop Wester said that he hoped during the pilgrimage to "encourage conversation about universal, verifiable nuclear disarmament and to walk together toward a new future of peace, a new promised land of peace, a new culture of peace and nonviolence where we all might learn to live in peace as sisters and brothers on this beautiful planet, our common home." Archbishop Etienne said, "God calls us to build a global community where the whole human family can flourish; let us keep educating ourselves, praying for peace, and appealing for verifiable nuclear disarmament, which reflects our Catholic teachings and is the path for the common good."

In May, both bishops joined Archbishop Peter Michiaki Nakamura of Nagasaki and Bishop Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama of Hiroshima in issuing a letter to leaders of the Group of Seven nations, as the G7 met in Hiroshima, calling on them to take "concrete steps" toward ending the use of nuclear weapons. "As the Roman Catholic spiritual leaders of the diocese with the most spending on nuclear weapons in the United States (Santa Fe, New Mexico), the diocese with the most deployed strategic nuclear weapons in the United States (Seattle, Washington State), and the only two dioceses in the world to have suffered atomic attacks (Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan), we are compelled to speak out," the bishops said in the letter. They called on leaders to "enter into serious multilateral negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament."

Pope Francis said in his June 2022 message to the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons:

"Nuclear weapons are a costly and dangerous liability. They represent a 'risk multiplier' that provides only an illusion of a 'peace of sorts.' Here, I wish to reaffirm that the use of nuclear weapons, as well as their mere possession, is immoral. Trying to defend and ensure stability and peace through a false sense of security and a 'balance of terror,' sustained by a mentality of fear and mistrust inevitably ends up poisoning relationships between peoples and obstructing any possible form of real dialogue. Possession leads easily to threats of their use, becoming a sort of 'blackmail' that should be repugnant to the consciences of humanity."

Links:

Pilgrimage of Peace - Archdiocese of Seattle https://archseattle.org/about-the-archdiocese-of-seattle/archbishop-etienne/pilgrimage-of-peace/

The Pax Christi International secretariat is a member of the Nobel Peace-prize awardee International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons. www.icanw.org/

Oppenheimer: what you need to know before watching www.icanw.org/oppenheimer_facts_myths_nuclear_weapons