Pope Leo XIV marks Hiroshima anniversary with a call for global peace

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
6 Aug 2025 22:28
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As global tensions rise, Pope Leo XIV warns that humanity cannot afford to repeat the horrors of Hiroshima, urging world leaders to choose peace over power.

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Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025 (AP)

Eighty years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Pope Leo XIV has issued a solemn plea for lasting peace, condemning nuclear weapons as a violation of humanity and a betrayal of divine creation. In a message published by Vatican News on Tuesday, the pontiff urged the global community to renew its commitment to peace and disarmament.

“Nuclear arms offend our shared humanity and betray the dignity of creation, whose harmony we are called to safeguard,” Pope Leo declared, marking the anniversary of one of history’s darkest chapters.

Japan commemorated the 1945 US bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki this week, attacks that claimed between 150,000 and 246,000 lives by the end of that year. Pope Leo emphasized that both cities “remain living reminders of the profound horrors wrought by nuclear weapons.”

Drawing from his predecessor’s teachings, Leo quoted Pope Francis’ warning against reliance on the doctrine of deterrence, describing it as an “illusion of security founded on mutually assured destruction.” In contrast, he called for a new global ethic “rooted in justice, fraternity and the common good.”

Wider context

The pope’s message was both a reflection on past tragedy and a call to action for the present. “Those tragic events remain a universal warning against the devastation caused by war, and particularly by nuclear weapons,” he noted.

As the world faces growing geopolitical tensions and renewed fears of war, Pope Leo voiced his hope that the anniversary of Hiroshima might inspire a new era of diplomacy and disarmament. “May it serve as a call to the international community to renew its commitment to pursuing lasting peace for our whole human family, a peace that is unarmed and disarming,” he said.

Pope Leo concluded his message with a powerful appeal: that today’s world, “plagued by intense divisions and deadly violence,” abandon its false sense of security based on threats of annihilation, and instead embrace “justice, open dialogue, and trust in fraternity.”