Pope Francis will visit Japan Nov 23-26 and meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Emperor Naruhito, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Friday.
The pope will visit Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki during his visit. Suga said Abe invited Francis to visit Japan when he went to the Vatican in 2014.
Suga said, “We welcome the visit as a way to gain understanding of the international community about atomic bombing.”
John Paul II was the first pope to visit Japan, in 1981. Japan, where the main religions are Buddhism and Shintoism, has about 441,000 Catholics, many in Nagasaki.
Nagasaki is rich in the legacy of Christian missionaries dating back to the samurai era, including 26 martyrs killed in 1597.
Francis has repeatedly called for a world without nuclear weapons.
Nagasaki Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami, who heads the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan, has welcomed Pope Francis’ upcoming visit, saying he and others in the Japanese church have been asking him to come for years.
He said Francis has special feelings for Japan, referring to how last year the pope had the Vatican print thousands of cards showing a Nagasaki nuclear bombing child survivor carrying his dead brother on his back. The card had the words “The fruit of war” printed on it.
Prior to coming to Japan, the pope will visit Thailand on Nov 20-23.
Francis has repeatedly called for a world without nuclear weapons.
That would be great. I hope his efforts are successful.
@Concerned Citizen
Unfortunately that won’t happen. Man is an animal, an animal that loves to fight. Best of luck to the pope though.
“The Pope! How many divisions has he got?” – Stalin
Great news! How wonderful to have The Pope visit Japan!
Why Japan? There are virtually no catholics in this country, yes virtually none. Why not Philippines for example which has a huge catholic population. So he is in Japan because Abe wanted a photo op and wanted the pope to preach an anti nuclear gospel non believers?