On the 70th anniversary of the horrific atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there are calls to abolish nuclear weapons from many including the Pope.
A message from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, reflected calls by the Mayor of Nagasaki to abolish nuclear weapons.
Pope Francis said they should ‘a permanent warning to humanity’ to to reject war and ban weapons of mass destruction
In l in his weekly Angelus address at St. Peter’s Square he said: “Seventy years ago, on the sixth and the ninth of August 1945, the terrible atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place. Even after so many years, this tragic event still arouses horror and revulsion,”
RT reports: The pope said that the attacks are a symbol of the “enormous power of humanity” when people misuse scientific and technical progress.
“[This event] serves as a lasting warning to humanity so that it rejects forever war and bans nuclear weapons and all arms of mass destruction,” the pope said.
“May one cry rise up from every land, ‘No’ to war and violence and ‘Yes’ to dialogue and to peace. With war one always loses. The only way to win a war is never to wage it,” was his conclusion.
Pope Francis also expressed deep concern about the situation in El Salvador where people suffer from famine, the economic crisis, social clashes and growing violence.
On August 6 and August 9 1945, the USA dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectivley. These attacks killed almost 250,000 people, with many of them dying from radiation sickness months, and even years after the bombing.
During the Nagasaki ceremony on Sunday, bells tolled and tens of thousands of people in Japan observed a minute’s silence to mark the Nagasaki attack that killed 74,000 people.
The ceremony followed a similar observance three days earlier to remember the Hiroshima attack that claimed an estimated 140,000 lives.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid a wreath during the Nagasaki ceremony, which was attended by representatives of 75 countries,
He said “As the only country attacked with an atomic bomb in war, I am renewing our determination to lead the global effort for nuclear disarmament, to create a world without such weapons.”