The tragedy of war seems to always be forefront in the mind of Pope Francis.
This Sunday, after praying the midday Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square (even as Rome reaches a toasty 100 degrees today!), the Holy Father recalled two tragic anniversaries from last week: the August 6 and 9 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
He used the anniversary to urge prayer for some of the worst conflicts raging in the world right now.
“We have recalled in these days the anniversary of the atomic bombing of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As we continue to commend to the Lord the victims of those events and of all wars, let us renew our intense prayer for peace, especially for martyred Ukraine, for the Middle East, Palestine, Israel, Sudan and Myanmar.”
All of those conflicts had particularly notable news this week, as Ukraine made a move across the Russian border, a school complex in Gaza was decimated, part of Sudan received the official designation of being in famine, and Rohingyas fleeing Myanmar were bombed by drones.
The Pope has often spoken out against nuclear war, particularly during and after his 2019 visit to Japan. The year after, on what was the 75th anniversary of the bombings, the Pope recalled his message at Hiroshima in 2019, saying that “the use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral, just as the possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral.”
And today we celebrate...