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Recognizing the 78th anniversary of this event on August 6, 1945, the U.S. used an atomic bomb for the first time in history, against the city of Hiroshima. The U.S. dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki three days later. Experts estimate that the two bombs instantly killed more than 100,000 people. Critics of the popular movie Oppenheimer say that omitting the human suffering makes the story “morally half-formed”.
Appearing in the Los Angeles Times, this review by Emily Zemler from August 4, 2023, points out the important missing effects of destructive weapons on the scale of a nuclear attack.
“The film, told through the lens of American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), has earned rave reviews and box-office success. But for some observers, the movie, based on Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s 2005 biography “American Prometheus,” centers Oppenheimer’s perspective without acknowledging the human toll of his technology.”
“It never shows the bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, for instance, or the aftermath in either city. The number of casualties is mentioned once in passing. Additionally, other than one throwaway line, there is no reference to the effect atomic testing had on Native Americans in New Mexico, known as ‘downwinders.’ ”
This fall, the Peace and Justice Ministry will present a book discussion of Pope Francis’ book
Against War: Building a Culture of Peace, facilitated by Marie Dennis of Pax Christi.
In four one-hour discussions, participants will reflect together on four themes highlighted in Pope Francis in the book: the Cost of War, Nuclear Weapons, Love Wins, Peace and Nonviolence.
Four Wednesdays October 25, November 1, 8, 15
7:00 to 8:00 PM via Zoom
$50.00 Registration includes a copy of the book
janbanister@comcast.net for registration or information
Marie Dennis is Senior Director of Pax Christi International’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative. She was co-president of Pax Christi International from 2007 to 2019 and is a Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace. In 2022 she received the Robert M. Holstein Faith Doing Justice Award from the Ignatian Solidarity Network and the Peter Hinde Peace Award from CRISPAZ. Marie worked for the Maryknoll Missioners for 23 years, including 15 years as director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, and now serves on the Maryknoll Lay Missioners Board of Directors. She is author or co-author of seven books, editor of Choosing Peace: The Catholic Church Returns to Gospel Nonviolence (Orbis Books, 2017) and co-editor of Advancing Nonviolence in the Church and the World (Pax Christi International 2020). Marie is a lay woman, a mother of 6 and a grandmother of 9. She is a founding member of Assisi Community in Washington DC.
Against War: Building a Culture of Peace
From the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has made concern and action for peace and nonviolence one of his signature themes. From his travels to Iraq and other war-torn regions to his prophetic homilies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he has called the world to pursue a different path. Now, with the recent crisis in the Ukraine, his powerful voice is more prophetic and necessary than ever. "Faced with the images of death that come to us from Ukraine, it is difficult to hope. Yet there are seeds of hope. There are millions who do not aspire to war, who do not justify war … Millions of young people who are asking us to do everything possible and seemingly impossible to stop the war, to stop all wars. It is in thinking first of all of them, of young people and children that we must repeat together: Never again war! And together we must commit ourselves to building a world that is more peaceful because it is more just, where it is peace that triumphs and not the folly of war; justice, and not the injustice of war; mutual forgiveness, and not the hatred that divides and makes us see the other, the person who is different from us, as an enemy." --Pope Francis
Pax Christi
Pax Christi International is a Catholic peace movement with 120 member organizations worldwide that promotes peace, respect of human rights, justice & reconciliation throughout the world.
Grounded in the belief that peace is possible, and that vicious cycles of violence and injustice can be broken, Pax Christi International addresses the root causes & destructive consequences of violent conflict and war.
https://paxchristi.net/about-us/
The Peace & Justice Ministry maintains Parish membership in Pax Christi.
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