Bishop of Hiroshima: 'Promoting the Treaty to Abolish Nuclear Weapons'

Gratitude and prayer of the Diocese of Hiroshima for those who act for peace. The hope for the agreement between North Korea and the United States.


Hiroshima (AsiaNews) - Commemorating the tragedy of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in prayer and in the request for a future of peace and denuclearization: This is the hope that Msgr. Alexis Mitsuru Shirama, bishop of Hiroshima, expressed to AsiaNews.

"Together with the faithful of my diocese - says the prelate - I am deeply grateful to those who offer their prayers and activities for peace in the world, on August 6 and 9, on the 73rd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I feel that this is an important moment to pray and work together for peace and denuclearization, in evoking these memories".

In these days, Japan commemorates the bombs that killed 210 thousand people before the end of the Second World War. Yesterday, the city of Hiroshima gathered at the Peace Park. On that occasion, Mayor Kazumi Matsui reiterated the need for states to join the UN Treaty for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons. An appeal that the same bishop addresses to his country and to the world: "I wish a faster promotion of the Treaty to abolish nuclear power, which was established at the United Nations last year. I hope Japan will take part in this agreement ".

The prayer of Msgr. Shirama also turns to the nearby Korean peninsula, hoping for "a faster realization of the agreement reached this year between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United States on denuclearization. I continue to pray to God and to offer everything that can be done every day, with God and with all the people who share the same intention".