This week marks the 80th anniversary of the use of atomic weapons on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB, underscored the importance of prayer and renewed efforts toward universal nuclear disarmament and lasting peace.
“Certainly, the atrocities of war continue to be evident even in our ‘developed world,’ where human life is victimized in the womb, near death, on the streets of our modern cities, and in the various war zones of the contemporary world… we pray for a change in mentality and an ever-deeper respect for every human person. We advocate that dollars be spent in favor of development rather than for arms. We pray that the attitudes and absence of dialogue that led to the use of atomic arms eighty years ago might give way to mutual understanding, peace building, and international cooperation.
“As we mark this doleful anniversary, we recognize the ongoing threat of nuclear weapons and their proliferation. We must renew our efforts to work for the conversion of heart required for a global commitment to lasting peace, and thus the elimination of nuclear weapons. This week, let us prayerfully remember the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and urge the United States and the international community to work diligently for nuclear disarmament around the world. Following Pope Leo XIV’s recent appeal, we exhort all nations to ‘shape their future by works of peace, not through violence and bloody conflict!’”
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan, the only bishops from a country to have suffered atomic bombings in war, also recently declared their strong commitment to the abolition of nuclear weapons.