{"id":11276,"date":"2015-08-09T12:27:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-09T12:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary-88123\/"},"modified":"2015-08-09T12:27:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-09T12:27:00","slug":"no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;No to war!&#8217; &ndash; Pope pushes for nuclear disarmament on atomic bomb anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Pope_Francis_prays_with_journalists_on_the_papal_flight_en_route_to_South_Korea_on_Aug_14_2014_Credit_Alan_Holdren_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Vatican City, Aug 9, 2015 \/ 06:27 am (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- On Sunday Pope Francis said the \u201chorrific\u201d atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the icon of man\u2019s destructive misuse of scientific progress, and called for an end to all nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe \u201ctremendous\u201d atomic bombing of the two Japanese cities, which took place Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, \u201cstill arouses horror and repulsion,\u201d the Pope said in his Aug. 9 Sunday Angelus address.<\/p>\n<p>\tHe told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Square that the event \u201chas become the symbol of man's enormous destructive power when he makes a wrong use of scientific and technical progress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tThese bombings ought to serve as a permanent warning to humanity in order \u201cto repudiate her forever from war and to banish nuclear arms and every weapon of mass destruction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\tFrancis then called for prayer and a decisive commitment to work for peace and to spread an \u201cethic of fraternity\u201d in the world so as to foster a serene coexistence among peoples.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cFrom every land should arise one voice: no to war and violence and yes to dialogue and peace!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tSeventy 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.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe 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, the BBC reports. The attacks took a heavy toll on all of Japan\u2019s population.<\/p>\n<p>\tPope Francis has spoken against nuclear weapons before, including during a Dec. 7, 2014 message to an international gathering on the weapons.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cNuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction cannot be the basis for an ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence among peoples and states,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cA global ethic is needed if we are to reduce the nuclear threat and work toward nuclear disarmament,\u201d the Pope explained, adding that the many victims of nuclear arms are a warning \u201cnot to commit the same irreparable mistakes which have devastated populations and creation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tIn his Angelus address, Francis also offered his thoughts and prayers to the people of El Salvador, where he \u201cfollows with concern\u201d the news of increasing hardships due to famine, the economic crisis, acute social conflicts and growing violence.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cI encourage the dear Salvadorian people to persevere united in hope, and I urge all to pray so that in the land of Blessed Oscar Romero, justice and peace will flourish again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\tArchbishop Romero was killed due to hatred of the faith March 24, 1980, in the midst of the birth of a civil war between leftist guerrillas and the dictatorial government of the right. At the beginning of this year Pope Francis approved of his martyrdom and he was beatified May 23, 2015.<\/p>\n<p>\tViolence in El Salvador skyrocketed after a treaty between local gangs and the government collapsed early last year.<\/p>\n<p>\tAccording to the Associated Press, a recent spike in murders \u2013 with a reported 600 in May alone \u2013 is due to the fact that gangs are seeking to pressure the government into negotiating a new treaty, much like a previous one which resulted in a significant drop in homicides. However, the government has frequently repeated that it will not negotiate with criminals.<\/p>\n<p>\tIn his reflections on the day\u2019s Gospel reading from John, Pope Francis focused on Jesus\u2019 declaration that he is the true bread come down from heaven, and that \u201cNo one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him\u2026He who believes in me has eternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tJesus\u2019 words, he said, introduce a relationship into the dynamic of faith, which is the relationship between the human person and the person of Jesus. Both the Father and the Holy Spirit naturally play a decisive role in this relationship, he noted.<\/p>\n<p>\tPope Francis said that \u201cit\u2019s not enough to encounter Jesus to believe in him, it's not enough to read the Bible, it's not enough either to witness a miracle,\u201d even though all of these things are good.<\/p>\n<p>\tWhat\u2019s needed, he said, is an open heart, because there are many who have come into close contact with Jesus, but have still not believed and have even despised and condemned him.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cWhy? Because their hearts were closed, (and) when the heart is closed faith can't enter,\u201d he said, explaining that faith is a gift from God.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cFaith\u2026blooms when we allow ourselves to be drawn from the Father to Jesus, and we go to him with an open mind, without prejudice; so we recognize in his face the face of God and in his words the Word of God, because the Holy Spirit allows us to enter into the relationship of life and love there is between Jesus and the Father,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\tPope Francis concluded his address by turning to the example of Mary, who is the first one to both believe in Jesus and welcome his flesh. He prayed that all would learn from her how to receive the gift of faith before leading those present in the traditional Angelus prayer.<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=R5vbw6o8Gdg:BxX1pBZKQnE:yIl2AUoC8zA\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/R5vbw6o8Gdg\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Pope_Francis_prays_with_journalists_on_the_papal_flight_en_route_to_South_Korea_on_Aug_14_2014_Credit_Alan_Holdren_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Vatican City, Aug 9, 2015 \/ 06:27 am (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" target=\"_self\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- On Sunday Pope Francis said the &ldquo;horrific&rdquo; atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the icon of man&rsquo;s destructive misuse of scientific progress, and called for an end to all nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe &ldquo;tremendous&rdquo; atomic bombing of the two Japanese cities, which took place Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, &ldquo;still arouses horror and repulsion,&rdquo; the Pope said in his Aug. 9 Sunday Angelus address.<\/p>\n<p>\tHe told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter&rsquo;s Square that the event &ldquo;has become the symbol of man&#8217;s enormous destructive power when he makes a wrong use of scientific and technical progress.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>\tThese bombings ought to serve as a permanent warning to humanity in order &ldquo;to repudiate her forever from war and to banish nuclear arms and every weapon of mass destruction,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>\tFrancis then called for prayer and a decisive commitment to work for peace and to spread an &ldquo;ethic of fraternity&rdquo; in the world so as to foster a serene coexistence among peoples.<\/p>\n<p>\t&ldquo;From every land should arise one voice: no to war and violence and yes to dialogue and peace!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>\tSeventy 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.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe 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, the BBC reports. The attacks took a heavy toll on all of Japan&rsquo;s population.<\/p>\n<p>\tPope Francis has spoken against nuclear weapons before, including during a Dec. 7, 2014 message to an international gathering on the weapons.<\/p>\n<p>\t&ldquo;Nuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction cannot be the basis for an ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence among peoples and states,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>\t&ldquo;A global ethic is needed if we are to reduce the nuclear threat and work toward nuclear disarmament,&rdquo; the Pope explained, adding that the many victims of nuclear arms are a warning &ldquo;not to commit the same irreparable mistakes which have devastated populations and creation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>\tIn his Angelus address, Francis also offered his thoughts and prayers to the people of El Salvador, where he &ldquo;follows with concern&rdquo; the news of increasing hardships due to famine, the economic crisis, acute social conflicts and growing violence.<\/p>\n<p>\t&ldquo;I encourage the dear Salvadorian people to persevere united in hope, and I urge all to pray so that in the land of Blessed Oscar Romero, justice and peace will flourish again,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>\tArchbishop Romero was killed due to hatred of the faith March 24, 1980, in the midst of the birth of a civil war between leftist guerrillas and the dictatorial government of the right. At the beginning of this year Pope Francis approved of his martyrdom and he was beatified May 23, 2015.<\/p>\n<p>\tViolence in El Salvador skyrocketed after a treaty between local gangs and the government collapsed early last year.<\/p>\n<p>\tAccording to the Associated Press, a recent spike in murders &ndash; with a reported 600 in May alone &ndash; is due to the fact that gangs are seeking to pressure the government into negotiating a new treaty, much like a previous one which resulted in a significant drop in homicides. However, the government has frequently repeated that it will not negotiate with criminals.<\/p>\n<p>\tIn his reflections on the day&rsquo;s Gospel reading from John, Pope Francis focused on Jesus&rsquo; declaration that he is the true bread come down from heaven, and that &ldquo;No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him&hellip;He who believes in me has eternal life.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>\tJesus&rsquo; words, he said, introduce a relationship into the dynamic of faith, which is the relationship between the human person and the person of Jesus. Both the Father and the Holy Spirit naturally play a decisive role in this relationship, he noted.<\/p>\n<p>\tPope Francis said that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s not enough to encounter Jesus to believe in him, it&#8217;s not enough to read the Bible, it&#8217;s not enough either to witness a miracle,&rdquo; even though all of these things are good.<\/p>\n<p>\tWhat&rsquo;s needed, he said, is an open heart, because there are many who have come into close contact with Jesus, but have still not believed and have even despised and condemned him.<\/p>\n<p>\t&ldquo;Why? Because their hearts were closed, (and) when the heart is closed faith can&#8217;t enter,&rdquo; he said, explaining that faith is a gift from God.<\/p>\n<p>\t&ldquo;Faith&hellip;blooms when we allow ourselves to be drawn from the Father to Jesus, and we go to him with an open mind, without prejudice; so we recognize in his face the face of God and in his words the Word of God, because the Holy Spirit allows us to enter into the relationship of life and love there is between Jesus and the Father,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>\tPope Francis concluded his address by turning to the example of Mary, who is the first one to both believe in Jesus and welcome his flesh. He prayed that all would learn from her how to receive the gift of faith before leading those present in the traditional Angelus prayer.<\/p>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=R5vbw6o8Gdg:BxX1pBZKQnE:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/R5vbw6o8Gdg\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;No to war!&#039; &ndash; Pope pushes for nuclear disarmament on atomic bomb anniversary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Aug 9, 2015 \/ 06:27 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis said the &ldquo;horrific&rdquo; atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the icon of man&rsquo;s destructive misuse of scientific progress, and called for an end to all nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction. The &ldquo;tremendous&rdquo; atomic bombing of the two Japanese cities, which took place Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, &ldquo;still arouses horror and repulsion,&rdquo; the Pope said in his Aug. 9 Sunday Angelus address. He told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter&rsquo;s Square that the event &ldquo;has become the symbol of man&#039;s enormous destructive power when he makes a wrong use of scientific and technical progress.&rdquo; These bombings ought to serve as a permanent warning to humanity in order &ldquo;to repudiate her forever from war and to banish nuclear arms and every weapon of mass destruction,&rdquo; he said. Francis then called for prayer and a decisive commitment to work for peace and to spread an &ldquo;ethic of fraternity&rdquo; in the world so as to foster a serene coexistence among peoples. &ldquo;From every land should arise one voice: no to war and violence and yes to dialogue and peace!&rdquo; 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, the BBC reports. The attacks took a heavy toll on all of Japan&rsquo;s population. Pope Francis has spoken against nuclear weapons before, including during a Dec. 7, 2014 message to an international gathering on the weapons. &ldquo;Nuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction cannot be the basis for an ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence among peoples and states,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A global ethic is needed if we are to reduce the nuclear threat and work toward nuclear disarmament,&rdquo; the Pope explained, adding that the many victims of nuclear arms are a warning &ldquo;not to commit the same irreparable mistakes which have devastated populations and creation.&rdquo; In his Angelus address, Francis also offered his thoughts and prayers to the people of El Salvador, where he &ldquo;follows with concern&rdquo; the news of increasing hardships due to famine, the economic crisis, acute social conflicts and growing violence. &ldquo;I encourage the dear Salvadorian people to persevere united in hope, and I urge all to pray so that in the land of Blessed Oscar Romero, justice and peace will flourish again,&rdquo; he said. Archbishop Romero was killed due to hatred of the faith March 24, 1980, in the midst of the birth of a civil war between leftist guerrillas and the dictatorial government of the right. At the beginning of this year Pope Francis approved of his martyrdom and he was beatified May 23, 2015. Violence in El Salvador skyrocketed after a treaty between local gangs and the government collapsed early last year. According to the Associated Press, a recent spike in murders &ndash; with a reported 600 in May alone &ndash; is due to the fact that gangs are seeking to pressure the government into negotiating a new treaty, much like a previous one which resulted in a significant drop in homicides. However, the government has frequently repeated that it will not negotiate with criminals. In his reflections on the day&rsquo;s Gospel reading from John, Pope Francis focused on Jesus&rsquo; declaration that he is the true bread come down from heaven, and that &ldquo;No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him&hellip;He who believes in me has eternal life.&rdquo; Jesus&rsquo; words, he said, introduce a relationship into the dynamic of faith, which is the relationship between the human person and the person of Jesus. Both the Father and the Holy Spirit naturally play a decisive role in this relationship, he noted. Pope Francis said that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s not enough to encounter Jesus to believe in him, it&#039;s not enough to read the Bible, it&#039;s not enough either to witness a miracle,&rdquo; even though all of these things are good. What&rsquo;s needed, he said, is an open heart, because there are many who have come into close contact with Jesus, but have still not believed and have even despised and condemned him. &ldquo;Why? Because their hearts were closed, (and) when the heart is closed faith can&#039;t enter,&rdquo; he said, explaining that faith is a gift from God. &ldquo;Faith&hellip;blooms when we allow ourselves to be drawn from the Father to Jesus, and we go to him with an open mind, without prejudice; so we recognize in his face the face of God and in his words the Word of God, because the Holy Spirit allows us to enter into the relationship of life and love there is between Jesus and the Father,&rdquo; he said. Pope Francis concluded his address by turning to the example of Mary, who is the first one to both believe in Jesus and welcome his flesh. He prayed that all would learn from her how to receive the gift of faith before leading those present in the traditional Angelus prayer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;No to war!&#039; &ndash; Pope pushes for nuclear disarmament on atomic bomb anniversary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vatican City, Aug 9, 2015 \/ 06:27 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis said the &ldquo;horrific&rdquo; atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the icon of man&rsquo;s destructive misuse of scientific progress, and called for an end to all nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction. The &ldquo;tremendous&rdquo; atomic bombing of the two Japanese cities, which took place Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, &ldquo;still arouses horror and repulsion,&rdquo; the Pope said in his Aug. 9 Sunday Angelus address. He told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter&rsquo;s Square that the event &ldquo;has become the symbol of man&#039;s enormous destructive power when he makes a wrong use of scientific and technical progress.&rdquo; These bombings ought to serve as a permanent warning to humanity in order &ldquo;to repudiate her forever from war and to banish nuclear arms and every weapon of mass destruction,&rdquo; he said. Francis then called for prayer and a decisive commitment to work for peace and to spread an &ldquo;ethic of fraternity&rdquo; in the world so as to foster a serene coexistence among peoples. &ldquo;From every land should arise one voice: no to war and violence and yes to dialogue and peace!&rdquo; 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, the BBC reports. The attacks took a heavy toll on all of Japan&rsquo;s population. Pope Francis has spoken against nuclear weapons before, including during a Dec. 7, 2014 message to an international gathering on the weapons. &ldquo;Nuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction cannot be the basis for an ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence among peoples and states,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A global ethic is needed if we are to reduce the nuclear threat and work toward nuclear disarmament,&rdquo; the Pope explained, adding that the many victims of nuclear arms are a warning &ldquo;not to commit the same irreparable mistakes which have devastated populations and creation.&rdquo; In his Angelus address, Francis also offered his thoughts and prayers to the people of El Salvador, where he &ldquo;follows with concern&rdquo; the news of increasing hardships due to famine, the economic crisis, acute social conflicts and growing violence. &ldquo;I encourage the dear Salvadorian people to persevere united in hope, and I urge all to pray so that in the land of Blessed Oscar Romero, justice and peace will flourish again,&rdquo; he said. Archbishop Romero was killed due to hatred of the faith March 24, 1980, in the midst of the birth of a civil war between leftist guerrillas and the dictatorial government of the right. At the beginning of this year Pope Francis approved of his martyrdom and he was beatified May 23, 2015. Violence in El Salvador skyrocketed after a treaty between local gangs and the government collapsed early last year. According to the Associated Press, a recent spike in murders &ndash; with a reported 600 in May alone &ndash; is due to the fact that gangs are seeking to pressure the government into negotiating a new treaty, much like a previous one which resulted in a significant drop in homicides. However, the government has frequently repeated that it will not negotiate with criminals. In his reflections on the day&rsquo;s Gospel reading from John, Pope Francis focused on Jesus&rsquo; declaration that he is the true bread come down from heaven, and that &ldquo;No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him&hellip;He who believes in me has eternal life.&rdquo; Jesus&rsquo; words, he said, introduce a relationship into the dynamic of faith, which is the relationship between the human person and the person of Jesus. Both the Father and the Holy Spirit naturally play a decisive role in this relationship, he noted. Pope Francis said that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s not enough to encounter Jesus to believe in him, it&#039;s not enough to read the Bible, it&#039;s not enough either to witness a miracle,&rdquo; even though all of these things are good. What&rsquo;s needed, he said, is an open heart, because there are many who have come into close contact with Jesus, but have still not believed and have even despised and condemned him. &ldquo;Why? Because their hearts were closed, (and) when the heart is closed faith can&#039;t enter,&rdquo; he said, explaining that faith is a gift from God. &ldquo;Faith&hellip;blooms when we allow ourselves to be drawn from the Father to Jesus, and we go to him with an open mind, without prejudice; so we recognize in his face the face of God and in his words the Word of God, because the Holy Spirit allows us to enter into the relationship of life and love there is between Jesus and the Father,&rdquo; he said. Pope Francis concluded his address by turning to the example of Mary, who is the first one to both believe in Jesus and welcome his flesh. He prayed that all would learn from her how to receive the gift of faith before leading those present in the traditional Angelus prayer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-09T12:27:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Pope_Francis_prays_with_journalists_on_the_papal_flight_en_route_to_South_Korea_on_Aug_14_2014_Credit_Alan_Holdren_CNA.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/\",\"name\":\"'No to war!' &ndash; Pope pushes for nuclear disarmament on atomic bomb anniversary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-09T12:27:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-09T12:27:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Vatican City, Aug 9, 2015 \/ 06:27 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis said the &ldquo;horrific&rdquo; atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the icon of man&rsquo;s destructive misuse of scientific progress, and called for an end to all nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction. The &ldquo;tremendous&rdquo; atomic bombing of the two Japanese cities, which took place Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, &ldquo;still arouses horror and repulsion,&rdquo; the Pope said in his Aug. 9 Sunday Angelus address. He told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter&rsquo;s Square that the event &ldquo;has become the symbol of man's enormous destructive power when he makes a wrong use of scientific and technical progress.&rdquo; These bombings ought to serve as a permanent warning to humanity in order &ldquo;to repudiate her forever from war and to banish nuclear arms and every weapon of mass destruction,&rdquo; he said. Francis then called for prayer and a decisive commitment to work for peace and to spread an &ldquo;ethic of fraternity&rdquo; in the world so as to foster a serene coexistence among peoples. &ldquo;From every land should arise one voice: no to war and violence and yes to dialogue and peace!&rdquo; 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, the BBC reports. The attacks took a heavy toll on all of Japan&rsquo;s population. Pope Francis has spoken against nuclear weapons before, including during a Dec. 7, 2014 message to an international gathering on the weapons. &ldquo;Nuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction cannot be the basis for an ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence among peoples and states,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A global ethic is needed if we are to reduce the nuclear threat and work toward nuclear disarmament,&rdquo; the Pope explained, adding that the many victims of nuclear arms are a warning &ldquo;not to commit the same irreparable mistakes which have devastated populations and creation.&rdquo; In his Angelus address, Francis also offered his thoughts and prayers to the people of El Salvador, where he &ldquo;follows with concern&rdquo; the news of increasing hardships due to famine, the economic crisis, acute social conflicts and growing violence. &ldquo;I encourage the dear Salvadorian people to persevere united in hope, and I urge all to pray so that in the land of Blessed Oscar Romero, justice and peace will flourish again,&rdquo; he said. Archbishop Romero was killed due to hatred of the faith March 24, 1980, in the midst of the birth of a civil war between leftist guerrillas and the dictatorial government of the right. At the beginning of this year Pope Francis approved of his martyrdom and he was beatified May 23, 2015. Violence in El Salvador skyrocketed after a treaty between local gangs and the government collapsed early last year. According to the Associated Press, a recent spike in murders &ndash; with a reported 600 in May alone &ndash; is due to the fact that gangs are seeking to pressure the government into negotiating a new treaty, much like a previous one which resulted in a significant drop in homicides. However, the government has frequently repeated that it will not negotiate with criminals. In his reflections on the day&rsquo;s Gospel reading from John, Pope Francis focused on Jesus&rsquo; declaration that he is the true bread come down from heaven, and that &ldquo;No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him&hellip;He who believes in me has eternal life.&rdquo; Jesus&rsquo; words, he said, introduce a relationship into the dynamic of faith, which is the relationship between the human person and the person of Jesus. Both the Father and the Holy Spirit naturally play a decisive role in this relationship, he noted. Pope Francis said that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s not enough to encounter Jesus to believe in him, it's not enough to read the Bible, it's not enough either to witness a miracle,&rdquo; even though all of these things are good. What&rsquo;s needed, he said, is an open heart, because there are many who have come into close contact with Jesus, but have still not believed and have even despised and condemned him. &ldquo;Why? Because their hearts were closed, (and) when the heart is closed faith can't enter,&rdquo; he said, explaining that faith is a gift from God. &ldquo;Faith&hellip;blooms when we allow ourselves to be drawn from the Father to Jesus, and we go to him with an open mind, without prejudice; so we recognize in his face the face of God and in his words the Word of God, because the Holy Spirit allows us to enter into the relationship of life and love there is between Jesus and the Father,&rdquo; he said. Pope Francis concluded his address by turning to the example of Mary, who is the first one to both believe in Jesus and welcome his flesh. He prayed that all would learn from her how to receive the gift of faith before leading those present in the traditional Angelus prayer.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"&#8216;No to war!&#8217; &ndash; Pope pushes for nuclear disarmament on atomic bomb anniversary\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'No to war!' &ndash; Pope pushes for nuclear disarmament on atomic bomb anniversary","description":"Vatican City, Aug 9, 2015 \/ 06:27 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis said the &ldquo;horrific&rdquo; atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the icon of man&rsquo;s destructive misuse of scientific progress, and called for an end to all nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction. The &ldquo;tremendous&rdquo; atomic bombing of the two Japanese cities, which took place Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, &ldquo;still arouses horror and repulsion,&rdquo; the Pope said in his Aug. 9 Sunday Angelus address. He told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter&rsquo;s Square that the event &ldquo;has become the symbol of man's enormous destructive power when he makes a wrong use of scientific and technical progress.&rdquo; These bombings ought to serve as a permanent warning to humanity in order &ldquo;to repudiate her forever from war and to banish nuclear arms and every weapon of mass destruction,&rdquo; he said. Francis then called for prayer and a decisive commitment to work for peace and to spread an &ldquo;ethic of fraternity&rdquo; in the world so as to foster a serene coexistence among peoples. &ldquo;From every land should arise one voice: no to war and violence and yes to dialogue and peace!&rdquo; 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, the BBC reports. The attacks took a heavy toll on all of Japan&rsquo;s population. Pope Francis has spoken against nuclear weapons before, including during a Dec. 7, 2014 message to an international gathering on the weapons. &ldquo;Nuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction cannot be the basis for an ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence among peoples and states,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A global ethic is needed if we are to reduce the nuclear threat and work toward nuclear disarmament,&rdquo; the Pope explained, adding that the many victims of nuclear arms are a warning &ldquo;not to commit the same irreparable mistakes which have devastated populations and creation.&rdquo; In his Angelus address, Francis also offered his thoughts and prayers to the people of El Salvador, where he &ldquo;follows with concern&rdquo; the news of increasing hardships due to famine, the economic crisis, acute social conflicts and growing violence. &ldquo;I encourage the dear Salvadorian people to persevere united in hope, and I urge all to pray so that in the land of Blessed Oscar Romero, justice and peace will flourish again,&rdquo; he said. Archbishop Romero was killed due to hatred of the faith March 24, 1980, in the midst of the birth of a civil war between leftist guerrillas and the dictatorial government of the right. At the beginning of this year Pope Francis approved of his martyrdom and he was beatified May 23, 2015. Violence in El Salvador skyrocketed after a treaty between local gangs and the government collapsed early last year. According to the Associated Press, a recent spike in murders &ndash; with a reported 600 in May alone &ndash; is due to the fact that gangs are seeking to pressure the government into negotiating a new treaty, much like a previous one which resulted in a significant drop in homicides. However, the government has frequently repeated that it will not negotiate with criminals. In his reflections on the day&rsquo;s Gospel reading from John, Pope Francis focused on Jesus&rsquo; declaration that he is the true bread come down from heaven, and that &ldquo;No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him&hellip;He who believes in me has eternal life.&rdquo; Jesus&rsquo; words, he said, introduce a relationship into the dynamic of faith, which is the relationship between the human person and the person of Jesus. Both the Father and the Holy Spirit naturally play a decisive role in this relationship, he noted. Pope Francis said that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s not enough to encounter Jesus to believe in him, it's not enough to read the Bible, it's not enough either to witness a miracle,&rdquo; even though all of these things are good. What&rsquo;s needed, he said, is an open heart, because there are many who have come into close contact with Jesus, but have still not believed and have even despised and condemned him. &ldquo;Why? Because their hearts were closed, (and) when the heart is closed faith can't enter,&rdquo; he said, explaining that faith is a gift from God. &ldquo;Faith&hellip;blooms when we allow ourselves to be drawn from the Father to Jesus, and we go to him with an open mind, without prejudice; so we recognize in his face the face of God and in his words the Word of God, because the Holy Spirit allows us to enter into the relationship of life and love there is between Jesus and the Father,&rdquo; he said. Pope Francis concluded his address by turning to the example of Mary, who is the first one to both believe in Jesus and welcome his flesh. He prayed that all would learn from her how to receive the gift of faith before leading those present in the traditional Angelus prayer.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'No to war!' &ndash; Pope pushes for nuclear disarmament on atomic bomb anniversary","og_description":"Vatican City, Aug 9, 2015 \/ 06:27 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis said the &ldquo;horrific&rdquo; atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the icon of man&rsquo;s destructive misuse of scientific progress, and called for an end to all nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction. The &ldquo;tremendous&rdquo; atomic bombing of the two Japanese cities, which took place Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, &ldquo;still arouses horror and repulsion,&rdquo; the Pope said in his Aug. 9 Sunday Angelus address. He told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter&rsquo;s Square that the event &ldquo;has become the symbol of man's enormous destructive power when he makes a wrong use of scientific and technical progress.&rdquo; These bombings ought to serve as a permanent warning to humanity in order &ldquo;to repudiate her forever from war and to banish nuclear arms and every weapon of mass destruction,&rdquo; he said. Francis then called for prayer and a decisive commitment to work for peace and to spread an &ldquo;ethic of fraternity&rdquo; in the world so as to foster a serene coexistence among peoples. &ldquo;From every land should arise one voice: no to war and violence and yes to dialogue and peace!&rdquo; 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, the BBC reports. The attacks took a heavy toll on all of Japan&rsquo;s population. Pope Francis has spoken against nuclear weapons before, including during a Dec. 7, 2014 message to an international gathering on the weapons. &ldquo;Nuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction cannot be the basis for an ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence among peoples and states,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A global ethic is needed if we are to reduce the nuclear threat and work toward nuclear disarmament,&rdquo; the Pope explained, adding that the many victims of nuclear arms are a warning &ldquo;not to commit the same irreparable mistakes which have devastated populations and creation.&rdquo; In his Angelus address, Francis also offered his thoughts and prayers to the people of El Salvador, where he &ldquo;follows with concern&rdquo; the news of increasing hardships due to famine, the economic crisis, acute social conflicts and growing violence. &ldquo;I encourage the dear Salvadorian people to persevere united in hope, and I urge all to pray so that in the land of Blessed Oscar Romero, justice and peace will flourish again,&rdquo; he said. Archbishop Romero was killed due to hatred of the faith March 24, 1980, in the midst of the birth of a civil war between leftist guerrillas and the dictatorial government of the right. At the beginning of this year Pope Francis approved of his martyrdom and he was beatified May 23, 2015. Violence in El Salvador skyrocketed after a treaty between local gangs and the government collapsed early last year. According to the Associated Press, a recent spike in murders &ndash; with a reported 600 in May alone &ndash; is due to the fact that gangs are seeking to pressure the government into negotiating a new treaty, much like a previous one which resulted in a significant drop in homicides. However, the government has frequently repeated that it will not negotiate with criminals. In his reflections on the day&rsquo;s Gospel reading from John, Pope Francis focused on Jesus&rsquo; declaration that he is the true bread come down from heaven, and that &ldquo;No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him&hellip;He who believes in me has eternal life.&rdquo; Jesus&rsquo; words, he said, introduce a relationship into the dynamic of faith, which is the relationship between the human person and the person of Jesus. Both the Father and the Holy Spirit naturally play a decisive role in this relationship, he noted. Pope Francis said that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s not enough to encounter Jesus to believe in him, it's not enough to read the Bible, it's not enough either to witness a miracle,&rdquo; even though all of these things are good. What&rsquo;s needed, he said, is an open heart, because there are many who have come into close contact with Jesus, but have still not believed and have even despised and condemned him. &ldquo;Why? Because their hearts were closed, (and) when the heart is closed faith can't enter,&rdquo; he said, explaining that faith is a gift from God. &ldquo;Faith&hellip;blooms when we allow ourselves to be drawn from the Father to Jesus, and we go to him with an open mind, without prejudice; so we recognize in his face the face of God and in his words the Word of God, because the Holy Spirit allows us to enter into the relationship of life and love there is between Jesus and the Father,&rdquo; he said. Pope Francis concluded his address by turning to the example of Mary, who is the first one to both believe in Jesus and welcome his flesh. He prayed that all would learn from her how to receive the gift of faith before leading those present in the traditional Angelus prayer.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2015-08-09T12:27:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Pope_Francis_prays_with_journalists_on_the_papal_flight_en_route_to_South_Korea_on_Aug_14_2014_Credit_Alan_Holdren_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/","name":"'No to war!' &ndash; Pope pushes for nuclear disarmament on atomic bomb anniversary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-08-09T12:27:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-08-09T12:27:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Vatican City, Aug 9, 2015 \/ 06:27 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis said the &ldquo;horrific&rdquo; atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the icon of man&rsquo;s destructive misuse of scientific progress, and called for an end to all nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction. The &ldquo;tremendous&rdquo; atomic bombing of the two Japanese cities, which took place Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, &ldquo;still arouses horror and repulsion,&rdquo; the Pope said in his Aug. 9 Sunday Angelus address. He told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter&rsquo;s Square that the event &ldquo;has become the symbol of man's enormous destructive power when he makes a wrong use of scientific and technical progress.&rdquo; These bombings ought to serve as a permanent warning to humanity in order &ldquo;to repudiate her forever from war and to banish nuclear arms and every weapon of mass destruction,&rdquo; he said. Francis then called for prayer and a decisive commitment to work for peace and to spread an &ldquo;ethic of fraternity&rdquo; in the world so as to foster a serene coexistence among peoples. &ldquo;From every land should arise one voice: no to war and violence and yes to dialogue and peace!&rdquo; 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, the BBC reports. The attacks took a heavy toll on all of Japan&rsquo;s population. Pope Francis has spoken against nuclear weapons before, including during a Dec. 7, 2014 message to an international gathering on the weapons. &ldquo;Nuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction cannot be the basis for an ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence among peoples and states,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A global ethic is needed if we are to reduce the nuclear threat and work toward nuclear disarmament,&rdquo; the Pope explained, adding that the many victims of nuclear arms are a warning &ldquo;not to commit the same irreparable mistakes which have devastated populations and creation.&rdquo; In his Angelus address, Francis also offered his thoughts and prayers to the people of El Salvador, where he &ldquo;follows with concern&rdquo; the news of increasing hardships due to famine, the economic crisis, acute social conflicts and growing violence. &ldquo;I encourage the dear Salvadorian people to persevere united in hope, and I urge all to pray so that in the land of Blessed Oscar Romero, justice and peace will flourish again,&rdquo; he said. Archbishop Romero was killed due to hatred of the faith March 24, 1980, in the midst of the birth of a civil war between leftist guerrillas and the dictatorial government of the right. At the beginning of this year Pope Francis approved of his martyrdom and he was beatified May 23, 2015. Violence in El Salvador skyrocketed after a treaty between local gangs and the government collapsed early last year. According to the Associated Press, a recent spike in murders &ndash; with a reported 600 in May alone &ndash; is due to the fact that gangs are seeking to pressure the government into negotiating a new treaty, much like a previous one which resulted in a significant drop in homicides. However, the government has frequently repeated that it will not negotiate with criminals. In his reflections on the day&rsquo;s Gospel reading from John, Pope Francis focused on Jesus&rsquo; declaration that he is the true bread come down from heaven, and that &ldquo;No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him&hellip;He who believes in me has eternal life.&rdquo; Jesus&rsquo; words, he said, introduce a relationship into the dynamic of faith, which is the relationship between the human person and the person of Jesus. Both the Father and the Holy Spirit naturally play a decisive role in this relationship, he noted. Pope Francis said that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s not enough to encounter Jesus to believe in him, it's not enough to read the Bible, it's not enough either to witness a miracle,&rdquo; even though all of these things are good. What&rsquo;s needed, he said, is an open heart, because there are many who have come into close contact with Jesus, but have still not believed and have even despised and condemned him. &ldquo;Why? Because their hearts were closed, (and) when the heart is closed faith can't enter,&rdquo; he said, explaining that faith is a gift from God. &ldquo;Faith&hellip;blooms when we allow ourselves to be drawn from the Father to Jesus, and we go to him with an open mind, without prejudice; so we recognize in his face the face of God and in his words the Word of God, because the Holy Spirit allows us to enter into the relationship of life and love there is between Jesus and the Father,&rdquo; he said. Pope Francis concluded his address by turning to the example of Mary, who is the first one to both believe in Jesus and welcome his flesh. He prayed that all would learn from her how to receive the gift of faith before leading those present in the traditional Angelus prayer.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/no-to-war-pope-pushes-for-nuclear-disarmament-on-atomic-bomb-anniversary\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"&#8216;No to war!&#8217; &ndash; Pope pushes for nuclear disarmament on atomic bomb anniversary"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}