Pope Francis is in Japan on a four-day tour. He became the Roman Catholic pontiff in 2013 and this is the first papal visit to the country in 38 years. During World War II, the United States bombarded two cities in 1945 and Nagasaki was one of those. The pope feels it is possible to have a world minus nuclear weapons. During his speech in Nagasaki, he said - “A world of peace, free from nuclear weapons, is the aspiration of millions of men and women everywhere.” His vision is a world where there is no nuclear weapon.

Japan Times has marked the timing of the speech of Pope Francis.

The two superpowers are the U.S. and Russia. They have to make a decision on the treaty of 1987 related to arms control, which has expired in August. The treaty was between the United States and the then Soviet Union. Already there is a growing concern over the nuclear weapon programs of North Korea and the nuclear activities of Iran. These are not good signs for the world, because it has witnessed the devastation unleashed by nuclear bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Therefore, the pope wants people from all walks of life to join hands and work towards a nuclear-free world.

Hiroshima is also on his itinerary

In February 1981, John Paul II had come to Japan.

It was the first papal trip to the country and he had mentioned about doing away with nuclear weapons. He had visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the middle of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. The subject was the deployment of intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

Japan Times says Hiroshima is also on the itinerary of 82-year-old Pope Francis.

This city was another one devastated in World War II when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on it. The pope has plans to address the people in the Peace Memorial Park where he could call for a nuclear-free world. No leader in his right mind would like to start a nuclear war. The only way to ensure that is for all countries to dismantle their nuclear facilities associated with warfare.

Nuclear weapons inflict pain and horror

According to Sky News, Pope Francis wants world leaders to scrap nuclear weapons. In his opinion, the arms race has no positives. It adversely affects security, leads to wastage of resources and is a threat to humanity. Such confrontation means catastrophic destruction. He paid a visit to Nagasaki followed by Hiroshima and called for a global ban on atomic weapons. As the pope rightly says, nuclear warfare benefits no one. Millions of children and families live in inhumane conditions. The money that goes into the manufacture of weapons of destruction could be utilized to help humanity. The United States dropped two atomic bombs on cities of Japan during World War II.

The first target was Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and the death toll was 140,000 people. The second one was on Nagasaki three days later. It killed another 74,000. Those who survived have suffered issues of health that included cancer.
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