Prayers to prevent another Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Bombings similar to Hiroshima and Nagasaki could happen today, says national co-ordinator of the peace movement Pax Christi Aotearoa, Kevin McBride.

He was in charge of a commemoration on Tuesday, marking the 71^st anniversary of the US-led atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, which caused the death of more than 180,000 people.

“If we are already condoning the kind of bombing of places like Gaza, Libya, Iraq and so on, where civilians have been bombed, then it is not a huge step to get us to condone the use of nuclear weapons,” Mr McBride said.

“If you put someone like Donald Trump in charge of that sort of weaponry, then a similar thing could come about.”

Four people gathered in a circle at The Peace Place in Auckland CDB to remember the victims, pray for peace and share a moment of silence and reflection.

One of them was Aucklander Paul Robertson, a member of Pax Christi, who lived in Japan from 1991 to 1994 and went to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“It is worth remembering, because it was a humanitarian tragedy, and it is a warning of what might happen if nuclear weapons were ever used again,” Mr Robertson said.

Kevin McBride says a prayer for peace as he remembers the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 71 years ago. Photo: Rasmus Walther Jensen

Pax Christi was founded in the aftermath of World War II, which relates the organisation closely to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

Mr McBride said it is still relevant to remember what happened on those two days in August 1945, and to pray such events will never happen again - even if only four people show up.

He then referenced a quote commonly attributed to the late Irish statesman Edmund Burke: “‘All that is needed for evil to thrive is that good people do nothing’. So even though we are a small group, we are at least doing something,” said Mr McBride.

The New Zealand-Japan Society of Auckland was happy to know the atomic bombings were remembered.

“I am a deeply touched by it,” said society member Vanessa Chang.

“Most people want peace, but the fact that these people gather for something that happened so long ago convinces me, that they really believe in it and take action towards making it reality.”