Joseph Pede Poetry: Nagasaki and Hiroshima Were an Attack on Christianity

In 1865, the French priest Bernard Petitjean discovered that almost all the Urakami villagers were Christian. Between 1869 and 1873, over 3600 villagers were banished. During their exile, 650 died. The persecuted Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christians) came back to their home village after 7 years exile in 1873, and decided to construct their own church.

Construction of the original Urakami Cathedral, a brick Neo-Romanesque building, began in 1895, after a long-standing ban on Christianity was lifted. They purchased the land of the village chief where the humiliating interrogations had taken place for two centuries. The annual "fumi-e" interrogations required those present to tread upon an icon of the Virgin Mary or Jesus. They thought the place was appropriate considering their memory of the long persecution. Construction of the building was started by Father Francine and was completed under the direction of Father Regani. The frontal twin spires stood 64 meters high were constructed in 1875. When completed in 1925 (Taishō 14), until its destruction in 1945, it was the largest Christian structure in the Asia-Pacific region.

Urakami Cathedral, 7 January 1946

Ruins of the Cathedral destroyed by the Atomic Bomb with the rebuilt cathedral in the background.

The atomic bomb that fell on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 detonated in Urakami only 500 m (1640 ft) from the cathedral, completely destroying it. As the Feast of the Assumption of Mary (August 15) was near, Mass was held on the day and was well attended. The resultant collapse and heat-wave cindered and buried all those present in the Cathedral. The destruction of the cathedral hit the religious community of Nagasaki the hardest, as they viewed it as a loss of spirituality. It had such an impact, that noted playwright Tanaka Chikao wrote his most successful play, Head of Mary, about the efforts of Christians in Nagasaki to reconstitute their faith by rebuilding the Virgin Mary.

A replacement was built in 1959, after a serious debate between the city government and the congregation. The city government suggested preserving the destroyed cathedral as a heritage site, and offered an alternate site for a new church. However, Christians in Nagasaki strongly wanted to rebuild their cathedral on the original site, as a symbol of their persecution and suffering. In 1980 it was remodeled to more closely resemble the original French style.

Statues and artifacts damaged in the bombing, including a French Angelus bell, are now displayed on the grounds. The nearby Peace Park contains remnants of the original cathedral's walls. What remained of the cathedral is now on display in the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.

Seventy years ago, the only wartime use of nuclear weapons took place in the Aug. 6 attack on Hiroshima and the Aug. 9 attack on Nagasaki by the United States.

The Hiroshima attack killed around 80,000 people instantly and may have caused about 130,000 deaths, mostly civilians. The attack on the port city of Nagasaki killed about 40,000 instantly and destroyed a third of the city.

Four Jesuits were nearby the hypocenter of the attack on Hiroshima, but they survived the catastrophe, and the radiation that killed thousands in the months following had no effect on them.

The Jesuits priests Hugo Lassalle, Hubert Schiffer, Wilhelm Kleinsorge, and Hubert Cieslik were at the rectory of the church of Our Lady of the Assumption, one of the few buildings that resisted the bomb blast.

Father Cieslik wrote in his diary that they only sustained minor injuries from the broken windows – but nothing resulting from the atomic energy that was unleashed.

The doctors who took care of them afterwards warned them that the radiation they received would produce serious lesions, as well as illness and premature death.The diagnosis never materialized. No disorders ever developed, and in 1976 Father Schiffer attended the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia and told his story. He confirmed that the other Jesuits were still alive and without any ailments. They were examined by dozens of doctors some 200 times over the course of the following years, without any trace of the radiation being found in their bodies.

The four religious never doubted that they had been blessed with protection by God and the Blessed Virgin Mary. “We were living the message of Fatima and we prayed the Rosary every day,” they explained.

Bishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Niigata said Aug. 6 that Japan can contribute to peace “Not with new weapons, but with the noble activities that have a long history in the growth of the world, and in a particular way in developing countries.”

Bishop Kikuchi added that “this contribution to development, which brings about full respect for human dignity and its fulfillment, would be very appreciated and respected by the international community.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=9GTm5SLWRmE