It is a cloudy Monday morning, and Pope Francis is on the third day of his Japan trip. Today he will be in Tokyo to meet with some leaders in Japan and give another speech. Over the weekend he was in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, spreading his message of peace. Here is one news report from the Washington Post about the reaction from local students:
Pope Francis’ powerful message of peace and a world free of nuclear weapons that he brought to the two cities to have suffered atomic attacks has struck a chord with the younger generation.
Francis visited Nagasaki and Hiroshima on Sunday to demand world powers renounce their nuclear arsenals, declaring the use and possession of atomic bombs an “immoral” crime and a dangerous waste.
A Hiroshima high school student, 17-year-old Nozomi Kitahata, said the pope’s visit prompted her to renew “my resolve to work toward peace.”
She was among a group of high school students who joined the pope and survivors of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
Koharu Matsuda, also 17, said she could see the pope’s understanding and compassion for the atomic bombing survivors, and that “I can imagine how much his visit meant to the survivors.”
Pope Francis offers prayer after laying a wreath at the Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019, in Nagasaki, Japan. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Pope Francis kisses a baby as he arrives to lead a Holy Mass at the Nagasaki baseball stadium in Nagasaki on November 24, 2019. – Pope Francis railed against the use of nuclear weapons and the growing arms trade on November 24 as he paid tribute to the “unspeakable horror” suffered by victims of the Nagasaki atomic bomb. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)
