Catholic peace activists to mark Hiroshima anniversary
US Catholic peace activists will converge on Los Alamos, New Mexico, on the morning of 6 August 2005, to mark the 60th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima with prayer and protest. Hundreds are expected to take part.
Fr John Dear , coordinator of the New Mexico region of the international Catholic peace movement, Pax Christi, says they will put on sackcloth and ashes in a symbolic act to 'to repent of the sin of war and nuclear weapons.'
The protestors' gesture follows the biblical account in the Book of Jonah, treasured by both Christians and Jews. The Los Alamos complex is considered the birthplace of nuclear weapons. Pax Christi New Mexico  is also linking the struggle against weapons of mass destruction with the bid to eliminate terrorism.
The events sponsored by Pax Christi on 6 August will begin with a prayer service, then a walk through the town with anti-war banners and peace symbols. After the act of penitence and repentance, says Fr Dear, 'We will sit down in silence for thirty minutes to pray for an end to nuclear weapons, the disarmament of Los Alamos and our conversion to non-violence, justice and peace.'
A rally will take place later on sponsored by the Los Alamos Study Group , which monitors nuclear proliferation. The keynote speaker will be former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark.
'Sixty years ago we vaporized 140,000 people at Hiroshima, and then did it again at Nagasaki,' explained Fr Dear. "This is [one of] the worst, most sinful, most immoral acts in history. Instead of bombing other countries to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction, we should dismantle our thousands of weapons of mass destruction, disarm Los Alamos, clean up the environment, feed the hungry, and root out the cause of war by creating a more just society.'
He continued: 'Nuclear weapons are the ultimate form of terrorism. We cannot fight terrorism by becoming terrorists and threatening to use our own weapons of mass destruction.'