Pope Francis mourned in Japan by atomic bomb survivors, others

The death of Pope Francis was mourned across Japan on Monday by those who had met him during his 2019 visit to the country, including survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings and 2011 northeastern Japan earthquake and tsunami.

During the first papal visit to Japan in 38 years, the pope, known for his strong advocacy for the sanctity of life, called for the elimination of nuclear weapons in addresses delivered in the two atomic-bombed cities.

Toshiyuki Mimaki, head of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations, said he felt the pope’s “gentle nature.”

“I hoped he would recover and continue advocating for peace around the world,” said the 83-year-old, who had handed a letter to the pope at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima at the time, asking him to call on world leaders to stop war.

Kayoko Mori, an 82-year-old Catholic atomic bomb survivor who also met the pope in Hiroshima, said, “Seeing him call for the abolition of nuclear weapons made me feel deeply that he was on our side. I’m at a loss for words.”

Shigemitsu Tanaka, 84, who attended, as chair of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, the pope’s speech in the city, recalled that the pontiff had prayed for a long time for atomic bomb survivors and peace despite the heavy rain.

“His call for nuclear abolition was inspiring. It’s truly regrettable that someone who worked so hard for peace is now gone,” Tanaka said.

In 2019, the pontiff also met the victims of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeastern region in March 2011.

Tokuun Tanaka, 50, a Buddhist priest from Fukushima Prefecture who was forced to evacuate due to the nuclear disaster, recalled how the pope exuded “a warmth and greatness that seemed to embrace everything” during a gathering with disaster survivors in Tokyo.

Cardinal Isao Kikuchi, who remembered the pontiff’s sincere attitude during his meeting with disaster survivors, said the pope believed that “human life is a gift from God and must be protected.”

Kikuchi, a native of Iwate Prefecture in northeastern Japan who has been actively involved in disaster recovery, had been scheduled to meet with the pope in late March, but the meeting was canceled due to the pope’s declining health.

“He was trying to reshape the modern Church. I had hoped he would recover and continue that work,” Kikuchi said.

Earlier this year, Kikuchi personally delivered a letter of joy from the pope to Iwao Hakamata, who was recently acquitted after spending nearly half a century on death row following a conviction for a quadruple murder.

Hakamata, 89, was baptized as a Catholic in 1984 while in detention and attended a Mass held by the pontiff in Tokyo in 2019. His sister, Hideko, 92, recalled that being invited to the Mass was “very reassuring.”