Card. Turkson at Nagasaki: From suffering to peace-building
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, August 07, 2013: When Blessed Pope John Paul II visited Hiroshima
in Japan, he announced his Peace Appeal to the world. Responding to this appeal, Japanese
bishops have been offering prayers and holding lectures and pilgrimages in each diocese
to promote peace. From August 5 to 9, Card. Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical
Council for Justice and Peace, is in Japan for the visit on the occasion of the "Ten
Days for Peace", to commemorate the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which
took place on 6 and 9 August 1945, i) to pray for victims of atomic bombs ii) to reaffirm
the foolishness of wars and iii) to become peacemakers.
On Wednesday 7 August,
Nagasaki: Cardinal Peter Turkson, in his Speech during the Dinner by Nagasaki Inter-religious
Dialogue for World Peace, said “Blessed John Paul II properly named the suffering
brought by war, specifically by the Atom Bomb, as the fruit of human sin and the result
of evil at work. Pope Francis made a similar clarification: “The possession of atomic
power can cause the destruction of humanity. When man becomes proud, he creates a
monster that can get out of hand.”
Real peace-making is to include and to
integrate even those on the peripheries. Then, according to the Christian faith, we
join Jesus Christ in the saving logic of His Cross. With St. Paul we affirm that “death
is swallowed up in victory,” and triumphantly we can demand, “O death, where is your
victory? O death, where is your sting?”
From suffering to peace-building
The
second Atom Bomb of 9 August 1945 at Nagasaki is a “frightful wound inflicted” upon
the people of Japan and the whole human family.
I am honoured to be with you
solemnly to remember its 68th anniversary and to participate in Ten Days for Peace.
Such an invitation one accepts, not as a tourist nor even as a guest, but only as
a pilgrim.
We represent the great religious and spiritual traditions of Asia
– Buddhists and Shintoists, Christians who are Evangelical / Reformed / Protestant
and Catholic – as well as contemporary global secularism. Each tradition can explain
its vision as we come on pilgrimage here to a memorial of untold horror and destruction.
According
to Catholic belief, God made man for life, for freedom and for happiness. This is
obviously what each of us wants most deeply.
And yet our destiny here on earth,
much of the time, seems to consist not of freedom and happiness but of suffering.
Confused and discouraged, we are tempted to undergo suffering as chastisement or punishment,
as a cruel fate. Such senseless suffering can eventually defeat us.
But here
in Japan in 1981, Blessed John Paul II properly named the suffering brought by war,
specifically by the Atom Bomb, as the fruit of human sin and the result of evil at
work. Pope Francis made a similar clarification: “The possession of atomic power can
cause the destruction of humanity. When man becomes proud, he creates a monster that
can get out of hand.”
Individuals and societies are always tempted by the
passions of greed and hate; but they do not have to succumb. Instead of excluding
those who are deprived, let us meet their needs. Instead of avoiding those who suffer,
let us accompany them. Instead of cursing what we ourselves suffer, let us offer it
up for others. Instead of hiding from today’s problems, let us together bravely address
the social situations and structures that cause injustice and conflict. “Peace or
the survival of the human race is henceforth linked indissolubly with progress, development
and dignity for all people.”
Fifty years ago, at a time of serious nuclear
threat, Blessed John XXIII published his historical encyclical, Pacem in Terris, urging
that peace be built on solid foundations. Subsequent Popes have kept reminding the
world that peace is inclusive and indivisible: one segment of a population cannot
enjoy peace while other segments are suffering exclusion, deprivation, injustice and
violence. For “no amount of ‘peace-building’ will be able to last,” according to Pope
Francis, “nor will harmony and happiness be attained in a society that ignores, pushes
to the margins or excludes a part of itself.” Whom does our segment of society ignore,
marginalize or exclude?
Real peace-making is to include and to integrate even
those on the peripheries. Then, according to the Christian faith, we join Jesus Christ
in the saving logic of His Cross. With St. Paul we affirm that “death is swallowed
up in victory,” and triumphantly we can demand, “O death, where is your victory? O
death, where is your sting?”
From victims of suffering crushed by war, may
I invite each of us, and our faith communities, to honour the memory of Nagasaki by
collaborating in solidarity to build real peace. Thank you.