Ringing the peace bell in Hiroshima
Travel | Sacred Travel | Japan
13 April 2024
A visit to Hiroshima’s Peace Park and the Memorial Cathedral for World Peace — 500 metres from the epicentre of the atomic bomb — to fulfil a promise and ring the peace bell with all my heart. (4 min read)
Today I am in Hiroshima and my first stop was to fulfil a promise to a lovely volunteer I met at the Francis Xavier Memorial Church in Yamaguchi.
This lady’s mission is to bring about peace on earth and she is parishioner at Noboricho Catholic Church, which is the Memorial Cathedral of World Peace, located about 500 metres from the epicentre of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.
The Cathedral replaces a more modest church on this site that was destroyed by the atomic bomb. The parish priest was present but survived the bomb. He was inspired to create a church dedicated to world peace and with the support of the Pope raised money from around the world.
Donations were mostly made from Europe, and most notably in Germany and Austria. The church was completed on August 6, 1954, nine years after the bombing. Given the universal aspiration for peace, Mass is held in Japanese and other languages such as English, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese.
There are relics of St Franciso Marto and St Jacinta Marto — two of the visionaries of Lourdes. This made me wonder if the third secret was actually the atomic bomb?
It is bright and sunny in Hiroshima today and there are huge numbers of tourists about, including a lot of Australians. Mercifully, I’ve seen none of them until now… or if I have seen them, they have been well behaved and therefore invisible to me. Today was quite a contrast. Lots of grey nomads, and people who would normally go to Bali, travelling in packs and cackling loudly like chickens.
The “holiday” vibe is not congruent with a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Park which marks the spot of the atomic bomb that was dropped here in 1945 killing 90,000 to 150,000 people.
The area where the bomb was dropped was once a busy commercial centre, right on the river with numerous bridges.
The park is beautifully maintained and there are pale blossoms along the river and scattered throughout. There are various sculptures, peace cranes and a peace bell which is intended to be rung reverently in prayer for peace but not everyone got the memo.
I was prepared for the iconic remains of the Hiroshima Prefectural Promotion Hall, with the skeleton of a dome, but the holiday vibe of the masses diminished this for me.
I made my prayers for peace in the world all the same… and I hope you felt it when I rang the peace bell with my hands and all my heart.
Namaste.
© Paul McCarthy & Iluminar.au
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