Rome Newsroom, Jan 22, 2021 / 07:30 am
The Catholic bishops of Hiroshima and Nagasaki welcomed the United Nations treaty banning nuclear weapons that came into force Friday, while expressing disappointment that Japan was not a signatory.
"As Catholic bishops and Japanese citizens of the A-bombed cities, we share Pope Francis' confidence that a world free of nuclear weapons is possible and necessary 'to protect all life,'" the two bishops wrote in a joint statement Jan. 22.
Archbishop Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki and Bishop Mitsuru Shirahama of Hiroshima hailed the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) as an "effective measure for the abolition of nuclear weapons."
The nuclear ban treaty, which came into force on Jan. 22, is the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty in more than two decades. It was signed by 86 states, including the Holy See but excluding the world's nine nuclear powers.