Rumours of wars encircle peace-proud Japan

When Pope Francis flies into Seoul on Thursday morning he will be landing in a region where political tensions are growing Ever since the end of the Second World War, the Japanese have regarded themselves as all but divinely entrusted with a mission of World Peace. They even take an inverted pride in themselves as the only nation in the world to have experienced the devastation of not just one but two nuclear bombs. Both bombs were dropped in August 1945, first on 6 August on the city of Hiroshima, and secondly three days later on the city of Nagasaki. Then the immediate outcome was world peace, on the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, 15 August. Ever since then, at each of these cities in turn, these two days have been devoted to the commemoration of world peace, with the slogan &l