Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo, who was named a cardinal last month, has urged the government to draw inspiration from a nuclear bombing survivors’ group’s Nobel Peace Prize win to sign a UN treaty that prohibits nuclear weapons.
“We hope that the Japanese government will continue the discussion on how to build trust among nations to abolish nuclear weapons,” Vatican news agency Fides reported Cardinal-elect Kikuchi as saying on Oct. 30.
Kikuchi expressed hope that the Japanese government would consider the Nihon Hidankyo group’s advocacy for a world free of nuclear weapons. The group received this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Established in 1958, the Nihon Hidankyo or The Japan Confederation of A-and-H-Bomb Sufferers’ Organizations advocates the abolition of nuclear weapons and the protection of survivors of atomic bombings.
Regardless of which party or politician is in power now or in the future, Japan “should approve the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW),” Kikuchi emphasized.
The TPNW, or the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, with the goal being their total elimination.
According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, there are currently 94 signatories and 73 state parties worldwide.
Among Asian nations, Indonesia, Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Kazakhstan have signed and ratified the TPNW treaty.
Myanmar and Nepal have only signed the treaty and are yet to ratify it.
Kikuchi emphasized that the Catholic Church in Japan has actively called “for the abolition of nuclear weapons” during its Ten Days of Prayer for Peace, held in August every year.
The commemorative prayer event starts on Aug. 6, the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and ends on Aug. 15, the anniversary of the end of World War II in 1945, the prelate said.
The annual 10-day prayer event goes “hand in hand with a commitment to peace,” Kikuchi recalled the events behind its establishment.
“St. Pope John Paul II made a historic visit to Hiroshima in 1981, which sent a strong message of peace,” Kikuchi said.
“The Japanese bishops were encouraged by this message from the pope and therefore launched the Ten Days of Prayer for Peace,” Kikuchi added.
The prelate recalled that Pope Francis’ visit to Japan in 2019 confirmed and renewed the approach to ending war, weaponry, and suffering.
The dioceses of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with the entire Catholic community of Japan, are calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the establishment of peace, Kikuchi said.
This effort for peace involves the bishops of the United States “in a step of great symbolic value,” Kikuchi said.
Earlier in August, Japan’s Catholic Church hosted a forum with delegates from Japan, South Korea, and the United States and released the “Nagasaki Appeal for Peace,” seeking peace and reconciliation in the region.
The forum, themed “Nagasaki Catholic Peace Forum for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World,” was attended by 40 participants, including the bishops of the Nagasaki, Hiroshima, and Santa Fe dioceses.
The forum appealed for an end to militarization and the nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia.
“The Church in Japan will continue to work with all men and women of goodwill who seek peace, to call on world leaders to abolish nuclear weapons and thus create lasting peace,” Kikuchi said.
