2025 CHRISTMAS CAMPAIGN
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Eighty years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Catholic Church in the United States is marking the anniversary with a pilgrimage for peace. From August 4 to 11, a delegation made up of bishops, university scholars, and students is visiting both cities as a gesture of prayer, dialogue, and remembrance.
Cardinal Blase Cupich (Chicago), Cardinal Robert McElroy (Washington DC), Archbishop John Wester (Santa Fe), and Bishop Paul Etienne (Seattle) are accompanying the group, along with theologians and members of Catholic universities. Emilce Cuda, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, is also part of the pilgrimage.
The visit is framed within the Church’s observance of the Jubilee Year of Hope, echoing the late Pope Francis’ call to “remember, walk together, and protect.”
At a time when nuclear tensions are resurging, organizers hope this journey will foster cross-generational and interreligious dialogue, especially among communities across the Pacific.
Transfiguration - of a city and of Christ
Vatican News explains how academic and commemorative events are being held in both Japanese cities, highlighting the enduring humanitarian and ecological consequences of nuclear weapons. Survivors, peace activists, and Nobel laureates are joining participants in conversations on intergenerational justice and Catholic moral teaching on nuclear disarmament.
Cardinal Cupich, who just spoke in Hiroshima on the Feast of the Transfiguration, called the pilgrimage “an opportunity to let the light of Christ reveal a path beyond war, vengeance, and fear.”
The setting was poignant: August 6 marks both the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing and the liturgical feast celebrating Christ’s radiant glory — a contrast that has inspired Christian reflection for decades.
Organized by the Partnership for a World Without Nuclear Weapons (PWNW), the pilgrimage brings together dioceses historically linked to the nuclear legacy: Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, and Seattle and Santa Fe in the United States — home to the labs and ports that enabled the Manhattan Project.
Catholic universities sponsoring the event include Georgetown University, the University of Notre Dame, Loyola University Chicago, Marquette University, Junshin Catholic University of Nagasaki, and Sophia University in Tokyo.
Pilgrims are visiting local churches and Jesuit novitiates destroyed in the bombings and later rebuilt, museums and peace parks, and meeting with city officials and religious leaders. Daily Masses for peace, interfaith ceremonies, and public commemorations are offering space for both grief and hope.
Organizers describe the pilgrimage not only as a memorial, but as a beginning — a renewed call to conversion in how nations, communities, and individuals respond to violence.
In the words of Archbishop Wester, long an advocate for nuclear disarmament: “We remember the past not to dwell in sorrow, but to walk more faithfully toward peace.”
