Request for the signing and ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan

I wish to thank you, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Police Agency for the outstanding care and respect you gave Pope Francis during his visit to Japan last month.

As you know, Pope Francis sent extremely significant peace messages from the A-bombed cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Previously, on March 15, 2018, the chairman of the Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace sent a Request for the Signing and Ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to you and then-Foreign Minister Taro Kono. Now, prompted by the messages of Pope Francis, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan has resolved to renew that request that Japan sign and ratify the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty.

The Pope made the following points in his messages on November 24:

• The pursuit of international peace and stability is incompatible with the fear of mutual destruction and the threat of catastrophe. Rather, they can only be achieved by a global ethic of mutual respect, cooperation, and solidarity shared by the human family now and in the future. (Nagasaki Hypocenter Park)
• The possession of nuclear weapons is itself immoral. (Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park)
• Convinced that a world without nuclear weapons is possible and necessary, we ask political leaders to remember that nuclear weapons do not protect us against today’s threats to international and national security. (Nagasaki Hypocenter Park)

The Catholic Church also supports “the principal international legal instruments of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, including the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” to achieve a “world of peace, free from nuclear weapons.” (Nagasaki Hypocenter Park). Countless people at home and abroad, including the hibakusha, hope that Japan, the only country to experience atomic warfare, will lead the international community in abolishing nuclear weapons. In response to that hope, we urge you to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.