Japan’s top Catholic prelate, recently named a cardinal by Pope Francis, has said that the Catholic Church in the country will not forget what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and must continue to press for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Cardinal-designate Isao Kikuchi made his comments in response to the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to a group of atomic bomb survivors from the two Japanese cities that the US dropped atomic bombs on in the space of four days in August of 1945 during World War II.
“It is a great pleasure to know that the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the Nihon Hidankyo [group] to acknowledge their tireless efforts to abolish any nuclear weapons,” the cardinal-designate told <em>Crux</em>.
“Their call for abolishment has a strong impact on the realisation of peace, because it is based on the reality of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945,” said the 65-year-old Kikuchi of Tokyo, who also serves as the president of Caritas Internationalis, the Rome-based federation of Catholic charities around the world.
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked the first and only use of nuclear weapons in combat, with the combined death toll from both bombings estimated to be between 240,000 and 320,000 people.
Nihon Hidankyo was founded in 1956 by a group of survivors of the atomic blasts in the two cities, with the aim of lobbying the Japanese government for increased support for survivors and their families, and also pressing governments around the world for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In announcing the prize, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said it had been assigned to the grassroot organisation at a time when the “taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure”.
Kikuchi echoed that concern in his comments to <em>Crux</em>: “Even though the voices of those who suffered in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs are so strong, unfortunately some who own such weapons are not willing to abandon them to establish a foundation for lasting peace in the world,” the cardinal-designate said.
Since the beginning of the Russian war in Ukraine, there has been mounting concern about a potential nuclear dimension to the conflict – either from the use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russian forces, or from damage to nuclear facilities inside Ukraine as a result of the fighting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly hinted that Russia could employ nuclear weapons should NATO or other Western forces become directly involved in the conflict. As recently as 25 September, in an address to Russia’s Security Council, Putin suggested nuclear weapons could be used in response to a “joint attack” from a non-nuclear country backed by a nuclear-armed ally.
Kikuchi complained that his own government in Japan has refused to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, insisting, instead, that the deterrence provided by the US nuclear arsenal is a key element of Japan’s defence strategy.
“The Japanese government should be the very first one to approve the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, but it has been hesitant even to sign the treaty, saying trust-building among countries is not enough,” Kikuchi said.
“I hope the Japanese government will be motivated to lead the discussion on trust-building to abolish atomic weapons, inspired by the award of the Peace Prize to the Nihon Hidankyo.”
Kikuchi highlighted that Catholicism’s position on abolition is clear:
“The Catholic Church has been actively calling for abolishment of atomic weapons, especially during the annual ten days of prayer for peace in August,” he said. “These ten days start with the memorial day of Hiroshima, which is August 5, [and continue] until the 15th, which is the memorial day of the end of the war in the Pacific in 1945."
He explained the background to the annual prayer event: “Pope John Paul II made an historic visit to Hiroshima in 1981 with a strong message for peace. The Japanese Bishops were encouraged by this message of the Holy Father, and instituted the ten days of prayer for peace,” Kikuchi said, adding that activism against nuclear weapons would continue.
“The Hiroshima diocese and Nagasaki diocese today are jointly calling for the abolishment of nuclear weapons and the establishment of peace, together with the bishops of the US,” Kikuchi said. “The Church in Japan will continue to work with all who seek peace to call world leaders to abandon nuclear weapons to establish lasting peace.”
His comments follow the Holy See earlier this year expressing its deep concern over an increase around the world in rhetoric and threats regarding using nuclear weapons.
Speaking at the United Nation’s Geneva headquarters in July of this year, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the UN, said the “existential threat” posed by nuclear weapons has been exacerbated by the current “tense strategic environment” and the “ongoing modernisation and expansion of nuclear arsenals”.
According to calculations from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican) pressure group, global spending on nuclear weapons is estimated to have increased by 13 per cent to a record $91.4 billion during 2023. This has been partly driven by a sharp increase in US defence budgets.
In his address to a UN committee on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the archbishop highlighted that a distinctive feature of Vatican diplomacy on nuclear issues is that – contrary to the doctrine of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction), whereby if two opponents both have nuclear weapons they will never be able to use them as each would then wipe the other out – even the possession of nuclear weapons, even for deterrence, is morally wrong.
<a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/holy-see-deeply-concerned-over-increase-in-rhetoric-and-threats-around-nuclear-weapons/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><strong><em>RELATED: Holy See deeply concerned over increase in rhetoric and threats around nuclear weapons</em></strong></mark></a><br><br><em>Photo: The ruins of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, commonly known as the atomic bomb dome, Hiroshima, Japan, 12 October 2024. The skeletal framework of the dome and some walls inexplicably survived the blast and subsequent fire from the atomic bomb, leaving behind a haunting reminder of the devastating consequences of nuclear war. (Photo by PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images.)</em>
