In a letter ahead of last weekend’s G7 summit in Hiroshima, Pope Francis said the possession of nuclear weapons creates “a climate of fear and suspicion” and offers “only an illusion of peace”. Writing to Bishop Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama of Hiroshima, the Pope said that “the choice of Hiroshima as the site of this meeting is particularly significant, in light of the continuing threat of recourse to nuclear weapons”.
Hiroshima suffered the world’s first atomic attack on 6 August 1945, which killed 70,000 immediately and tens of thousands in the months and years following. The assembled leaders visited the memorial to the attack at the start of the summit on 19 May. Pope Francis added that G7 leaders in Hiroshima capable of embracing issues including access to food and water, respect for the environment, health care, energy sources and the equitable distribution of the world’s goods”.
Two US prelates, Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico and Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle, Washington, signed a joint letter with Bishop Shirahama and Archbishop Peter Michiaki Nakamura of Nagasaki urging the G7 leaders “to ensure no country or city ever suffers the horrors of nuclear war again”. The bishops called on the lead- ers to “acknowledge the tremendous, long-lasting human suffering that production and nuclear weapons testing caused to downwinders around the world”.
Both Seattle and Sante Fe are home to facilities involved in the production or deployment of nuclear arsenals. Pax Christi groups worldwide signed a letter to the prime min- ister of Japan ahead of the summit commending the choice of Hiroshima as the venue and asking that he use the opportunity to encourage progress on nuclear disarmament. They called on G7 leaders “to set and pursue a com- mon deadline for the elimination of all nuclear arsenals”.
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