Hibakusha Group Heads Urge New Pope to Promote Nuke Abolition

   Hiroshima/Nagasaki, May 9 (Jiji Press)--Heads of hibakusha atomic bomb survivor groups in Hiroshima and Nagasaki voiced hope Friday that new Pope Leo XIV will promote nuclear abolition as his predecessor Francis did.
   The late pope, who passed away in April, visited the two atomic-bombed Japanese cities in 2019 and called for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
   "I want (the new pope) to think about peace first and aim for a world without nuclear weapons," said Toshiyuki Mimaki, 83, who heads a hibakusha group in the western Japan prefecture of Hiroshima. He urged the 69-year-old new pope to "visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the near future."
   On Pope Leo, who was elected the first U.S.-born pope Thursday, Mimaki also said: "It doesn't matter where he is from. I hope he'll work with the same mindset as previous popes."
   Shigemitsu Tanaka, 84, who heads a hibakusha group in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Nagasaki, said that he wants the new pope to adhere to Francis's stance on nuclear abolition. "The wish of hibakusha is not to fight back, but to ensure that people never have to go through the same suffering again," Tanaka stated.

(2025/05/09-16:32)