Japan: Bishops call for end to nuclear power on Fukushima anniversary

Fukushima explosion 2011 image UCAN

Source: Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan have appealed for an end to nuclear power on the 10th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster. In a statement released today they said: "In 2011, after the earthquake and the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, we Bishops as believers who protect life as a gift from God, demanded the immediate abolition of nuclear power plants. Unfortunately, we believe that over time the situation is moving in a different direction. Ten years after the accident, we renew our call for the immediate abolition of nuclear power plants and a change in lifestyles."

In their letter, the Bishops recall the motto of Pope Francis' visit to Japan in 2019: 'Protect life'. "Responding to the Pope's call, we want to create a society in which all life is protected without exception and its dignity is preserved and no one is forgotten. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic, the whole world feels called to 'protect life'. Pope Francis invites us to go to those who need help, to those who are isolated and face the crises of life in this modern world of conflicts and divisions, discrimination and exclusion, isolation and loneliness."

"When we were hit by this unprecedented catastrophe, we felt the limits of human wisdom and knowledge and understood how weak we are. Ten years after the great earthquake and tsunami, the world certainly needs to rethink all of this."