YouTube screenshot / Vatican News
CV NEWS FEED // Survivors of the Nagasaki atomic bombings are sharing their desire for peace to be a central theme in the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, who had once visited Nagasaki himself about 20 years ago.
“I hope he does his best for peace,” survivor Terumi Tanaka, 93, told UCA News. “I want this message to spread around the world. We must not use nuclear weapons.”
Tanaka is co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, a group that represents atomic bomb survivors, according to NHK World Japan. The outlet reported May 9 that another one of the group’s senior officials, Yokoyama Teruko, wants the pope to visit the atomic bomb museums in Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Teruko noted that Pope Leo, the first American pope, “is from a major nuclear power, and could provide an opportunity for the people of the US and other nuclear countries to reconsider the issue of nuclear arms,” NHK reported.
Teruko also said that she does not want the World War II atomic bombings to be forgotten. She hopes that through a visit to the museums and listening to survivors’ stories, “the pope could send a message on nuclear abolition from the city,” according to NHK.
Before he was pope, he had visited Nagasaki and met with local churches about 20 years ago, according to the outlet.
Father Michael Hilden of Shiroyama Catholic Church told UCA that the then-Father Robert Prevost “was very kind in person, humble and faithful.”
Fr. Hilden said the visit left an impression “[n]ot just because he visited Nagasaki, but because of world peace. I think all kinds of weapons will be his aim.”
The day after Pope Leo’s election, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba issued a statement indicating he hopes Japan and the Vatican would “further develop the excellent relationship and work together for world peace and prosperity.”
Pope Francis, who denounced nuclear weapons and possession of such arsenals, made a pilgrimage to Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 2019, UCA reported.