On the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle and Archbishop John C. Wester of Sante Fe, New Mexico, joined three Japanese bishops in a formal pledge to concretely work toward “a world without nuclear weapons.”
After a gunman fatally shot former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe during a campaign rally in western Japan on Friday, July 8, Archbishop Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo lamented that “violence kills democracy.”
Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe says he vividly remembers a somber day on a 2017 trip to Japan where he heard the story of school children rushing to their classroom windows on an August day in 1945, attracted by the bright light of an atomic bomb detonating.
After being cut from the U.S. women’s rowing team before the Rio 2016 Olympics, rower Kristine O’Brien wasn’t sure if she should try again for Tokyo in four years’ time. But, after receiving encouragement from her family and coaches, O’Brien decided to devote another four years to training — in hopes of representing the United States in the next Summer Games.
The path to true peace requires the world to abolish nuclear weapons, an American bishop and a Japanese archbishop said as the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings at the end of World War II approached.
Pope Francis said Tuesday that the latest round of financial scandal at the Vatican is actually a success story, because the situation was revealed thanks to an internal Vatican probe, which he said demonstrates that new controls are working.
Fulfilling a lifelong dream, Pope Francis visited Japan Nov. 23-26 as a “pilgrim of peace. The pontiff visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki to deliver a message against nuclear weapons, calling them “immoral” and urging nations to get rid of them.
Over half a century since joining the Jesuits with the hope of becoming a missionary in Japan, Pope Francis finally fulfilled the dream of visiting this land.
Speaking to people from 18 different religions on Nov. 22, Pope Francis said that the complex challenges of the world today – including globalization, the rapid advances of technology and the persistence of civil conflicts resulting in migration, refugees, famine and war – makes the need for cooperation between religions all the more pressing.
Pope Francis arrived in Thailand Wednesday to open a Nov. 20-26 Asia tour that will also take him to Japan. It marks the first time a pope has visited the former kingdom of Siam since St. John Paul II in 1984.
