Marking the 75th anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki this August

Pax Christi USA today has helped to initiate a new project, The Peace Ribbon 2020, with resources for people to pray, study and act in observance of the 75th anniversaries this August of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A special website for people to participate in The Peace Ribbon 2020 has been set up at this link.

Additionally, we have created this special page on our website where we will be gathering further resources for the anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Below is the position statement of #stillhere, an effort to highlight the voices of those affected by nuclear weapons: the hibakusha, downwind communities, nuclear workers, uranium workers, military personnel, and their families who were exposed to harmful and sometimes deadly levels of ionizing radiation and other toxins; and to press our leaders to take the actions necessary to ensure nuclear weapons are never used again and to negotiate in good faith the global elimination of these most devastating weapons of mass destruction. Pax Christi USA is a partner in this effort.

____________

from #stillhere

Seventy-five years ago, the United States conducted two nuclear attacks against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, devastating their populations and destroying their infrastructure. In the process of manufacturing and testing these weapons, civilians within downwind communities, nuclear workers, uranium miners and their families, and military personnel were also exposed to harmful and sometimes deadly levels of ionizing radiation. Following their use in Japan, the production and past testing of nuclear weapons in the United States and internationally continues to harm the health, environment, and cultures of communities around the world.

Today, we are living in a time of extraordinary nuclear dangers. Vital international agreements to reduce and control nuclear weapons worldwide are being abandoned. Budgets for the development and production of new nuclear weapons are growing. Tensions among nuclear-armed nations are rising to levels not seen since the Cold War.

As the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki warn: “We are badly off course in efforts to honor the plea of the hibakusha and end the nuclear threat.”

People created these weapons and designed the systems governing their use; people can work to eliminate them.

As the only country to use nuclear weapons in conflict, the United States has a moral obligation to lead the world in ending this menace and restoring communities impacted by nuclear weapons.

We must press our leaders to take the actions necessary to ensure nuclear weapons are never used again and to negotiate in good faith the global elimination of these most devastating weapons of mass destruction.