Hiroshima, Nagasaki, & Peace

 

Hiroshima Peace Park

God of Grace,

On this solemn anniversary, we remember the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and all who have suffered from conflict and violence across the world. We pray for healing for all wounds, visible and invisible, that persist from those tragic days and from every war.

Inspire leaders and all people around the world to commit to true peace, to reject the path of war and destruction, and to work tirelessly for justice, dialogue, and reconciliation. May the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki serve as a powerful reminder of the urgent need for a world free from nuclear weapons and all forms of violence.

Guide us to be instruments of Your peace, building bridges of understanding and fostering a global community rooted in love and respect for all humanity.

Amen.

This week marks the 80th anniversary of the massive destruction in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when newly developed atomic bombs were deployed for the first time by the Americans. No one really knows how many civilians died but the estimate is between 110,000 and 210,000, taking into account those who died immediately and those who perished in the first year from radiation poisoning. 

While this effectively ended WW2, so many non-combatants died. The film Oppenheimer explored the effect these weapons of mass destruction had on the man who was instrumental in creating them. We watched it again recently after seeing it in a movie theatre at the time of its release and I'm glad we did. 

The Hiroshima Peace Bell bears the Japanese inscription "世界絶対平和萬歳" ((hep: sekai zettai heiwa banzai), meaning "long live absolute world peace"). 

It's hard to believe that there are survivors of these blasts still alive today, some of them well into their nineties, with memories intact. They speak of seeing people stumbling through the streets like zombies, hair and clothing gone. How was it possible that some of them escaped immediate or slow, agonizing death? 

There were Jesuits living not far from the hypocentre of the blast who somehow survived. Some Catholics are convinced that they were spared because they were saying the rosary, which I find obscene. A supposedly Christian nation unleashed this firestorm so why would God spare this handful of followers? 

What did happen was that these Jesuits chose not to flee but instead set up a makeshift hospital to treat the wounded, drawing on the medical training of one of them, Father Pedro Arrupe although they were ill-equipped to respond to the catastrophic wounds. I found this in an article about the Jesuits and how quickly they condemned what had transpired: 

Johann Siemes, a German Jesuit and eyewitness alongside Arrupe, posed the inevitable moral question in Time (February 1946): “In a total war, can the use of such weapons ever be justified?” The answers were not unanimous.  As the world began to question itself, the Jesuits of America Magazine sought to respond in the August 18, 1945 editorial, painting apocalyptic scenarios of a humanity forced to live underground and issuing a prophetic warning about nuclear proliferation.

We can't minimize the nuclear threat that still exists in our world and how humans can justify the destruction of others. We see it all around us today and during this week we can be particularly mindful of praying for peace in our troubled world.  

https://vimeo.com/916775026