VATICAN CITY, NOV. 29, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI recalled the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Saturday, and called for increased efforts in favor of nuclear non-proliferation.
Upon receiving in audience the new ambassador of Japan to the Holy See, Hidekazu Yamaguchi, who was presenting his letters of credence, the Pope noted the “memory of this dark episode of the history of humanity,” and said that it “reminds us insistently how necessary it is to persevere in efforts in favor of nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament.”
The Holy Father held up Japan as an example in the effort due to “its constant support in the search for political solutions that will allow for the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear arms,” as well as its preference for resolving conflicts through dialogue, and not war.
Sharing the concerns of Japan on the nuclear issue, “the Holy See encourages nations to patiently weave the fabric of economic and political ties of peace.”
Those ties, Benedict XVI continued, “rise as a bulwark against every pretext of recourse to arms and allow for the promotion of the integral human development of all peoples.”
“Nuclear arms remain a source of great concern,” he added, “Their possession and the risk of their eventual use generate tensions and diffidence in numerous regions of the world.”
The Holy Father then stressed the “instability of markets and of employment” linked to the global economic crisis, which has not spared any country. To this end, he encouraged changing the allocation of some funds from arms to “projects of economic and social development, to education and to health.”
In this scenario, the Pontiff continued, “the place that Japan occupies in the international economy continues to be very important, given the growing globalization of the commercial system and of the movement of capital, which is a reality, the decisions taken by Japan will continue to have repercussion well beyond its borders.”
The Pope then mentioned the financing assured by Tokyo to developing countries, confirming that they represent “a cornerstone for the building of solid peace and prosperity in the concert of the nations of the world.”
Carbon footprint
For his part, Yamagucee assured Benedict XVI that Japan “continues to operate with all its effort for total disarmament.”
In regard to climate change, the ambassador stated that “Japan makes an effort to carry out a policy addressed to the formation of a society in which carbon is not much used,” reducing “before the end of the year 2020 the quantity of the gas emission to the effect that it will be 25% of the emissions of the year 1999, on the condition that an equitable and effective international picture is established and that there is agreement on this ambitious objective on the part of the large emitting countries, strongly supporting, at the same time, developing countries.”
Moreover, Yamagucee stated that the Japanese government is determined to “support the movement for the safeguarding of life and health of mothers and newborns, as well as the fight against sicknesses such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria,” as well as “elemental instruction in the realm of education.”
