'With war one always loses:' Pope Francis calls for nuclear weapons ban

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 70 year ago is ‘a permanent warning to humanity’ to to reject war and ban weapons of mass destruction, Pope Francis said.

“Seventy years ago, on the sixth and the ninth of August 1945, the terrible atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place. Even after so many years, this tragic event still arouses horror and revulsion,” he told the faithful in his weekly Angelus address at St. Peter’s Square.

The pope said that the attacks are a symbol of the “enormous power of humanity” when people misuse scientific and technical progress.

“[This event] serves as a lasting warning to humanity so that it rejects forever war and bans nuclear weapons and all arms of mass destruction,” the pope said.

“May one cry rise up from every land, ‘No’ to war and violence and ‘Yes’ to dialogue and to peace. With war one always loses. The only way to win a war is never to wage it,” was his conclusion.

Pope Francis also expressed deep concern about the situation in El Salvador where people suffer from famine, the economic crisis, social clashes and growing violence.

On August 6 and August 9 1945, the USA dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectivley. These attacks killed almost 250,000 people, with many of them dying from radiation sickness months, and even years after the bombing.