新泻主教指出奥巴马应该倾听广岛幸存者的声音
美国总统和世界“应该理解每当提及核灾难时，我们说的不是数字，而是人类生命、历史和眼泪。您为去核做出的努力值得赞赏，但这一意愿只有在尊重人类生命以及受造物的尊严得到保障时才能具体实现”
新泻县（亚洲新闻）—奥巴马访问广岛“是一个令人欣慰的意外。意外是因为就美国政府内部而言这一选择是危险的；令人欣慰是因为可能有助于迈向去核的历程。但是，总统应该明白，聆听幸存者的声音是重要的。因为，这场灾难的背后不是数字而是人”。这是日本新泻教区主教，亚洲明爱主任菊地功主教在美国总统即将对日本进行访问前几天向亚洲新闻通讯社发表的声明。以下为声明全文：
It is a pleasant surprise to know the decision of the US government to allow the president, the commander in chief of the US military, to visit to Hiroshima after the G7 Summit in Kashikojima, Japan.
It is a surprise because it might be a risky choice for the US government on the domestic front as such a visit might be taken as betrayal by their commander in chief of the strategy or choice to use the nuclear weapon at the end of the World War II.
It is pleasant because a visit to Hiroshima by the US president, who is one of very few people who have the power to decide to use nuclear weapon, might contribute a lot to raising awareness of the desire of many in Japan to abolish nuclear weapons in the world.
Already in 1963, Pope John XXIII addressed the issue of the abolition of nuclear weapons in Pacem in Terris, when he said, “justice, right reason, and the recognition of man's dignity cry out insistently for a cessation to the arms race. The stock-piles of armaments which have been built up in various countries must be reduced all round and simultaneously by the parties concerned. Nuclear weapons must be banned. A general agreement must be reached on a suitable disarmament program, with an effective system of mutual control.” (112)
Then, of course, President Obama himself made a strong appeal in Prague in 2009 to abolish nuclear weapons. On that occasion, he said, "As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act. We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can lead it, we can start it. So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."
So what are we waiting for?
If one goes to Hiroshima or Nagasaki to visit to the memorial museum in both cities, one may immediately notice that behind the blast of a single bomb there are so many individual stories to tell.
We forget this fact just by counting victims who add to 140,000 deaths and many more injured. But these numbers are the sum of individual lives, each one of which has something to tell us. They are not just "cases of death by a nuclear weapon" but Mister and Misses so and so.
As Christians, if we believe each life has the same value as a gift from God, then we should not just talk about just one bomb blast in Hiroshima in August 1945. Rather we should not forget the cries of each individual victim.
For this reason, it would be wonderful if President Obama took a chance to meet survivors in Hiroshima to realise that one bomb blast is not just one incident in history but an event that involved so many cries and individual stories. Seventy years after the incident, survivors are fewer and fewer. I hope that President Obama realises that the voices of survivors represent so many voices of the victims of just one bomb blast.
Out of respect for human life and human dignity granted to us by the Creator, we should aim for a nuclear weapon-free world and complete disarmament even though it might sound like a dream.
Pope John Paul II visited Hiroshima on 25 February 1981. On that day, he made the following appeal: “To the Heads of State and of Government, to those who hold political and economic power, I say: let us pledge ourselves to peace through justice; let us take a solemn decision, now, that war will never be tolerated or sought as a means of resolving differences; let us promise our fellow human beings that we will work untiringly for disarmament and the banishing of all nuclear weapons: let us replace violence and hate with confidence and caring."
I believe President Obama can make a change by following the pope’s example.
* Bishop of Niigata and President of Caritas Asia
