Nagasaki Archbishop urges for a Christmas against the crisis in Japan

December 24, 2012 - The season of Advent and Christmas Day "are the best times to concentrate prayers on those who suffer the most. And those who suffer most, here in Japan, are victims of the economic crisis and the nuclear disaster. This is why I think we should devote to them our thoughts and our prayers", said Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki. The archbishop told AsiaNews that his diocese will have subdued Christmas celebrations in order “to focus on prayer and help towards the weakest because the country is facing very critical times in terms of political and energy issues." Following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the Japanese Church has urged for an end to nuclear power generation. The nation’s bishops argue that despite technologies and precautions, nuclear waste disposal is a huge problem. Archbishop Takami said “We cannot put savings or profit above human life or the environment." He noted that anti-nuclear protests in front of the parliament in Tokyo every Friday shows it is no longer a question of ideology, as in the past, but it is a national emergency, a new social phenomenon that brings the voice of the people to the front row. The government must listen to this voice." "This will be a 'nuclear' Christmas for the whole country. The prayers of the Japanese Church are for those who suffer and those who fight against these forms of injustice,” Archbishop Takami said. “Hopefully it will be heard by the government," he added.