On 80th anniversary of Hiroshima bombing, Pope Leo criticizes ‘illusory security’ of nuclear deterrence

Pope Leo criticizes the “illusory security” of the global nuclear deterrence system, in an appeal on the 80th anniversary of the United States dropping an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima at the end of World War II.

Leo, the first US-born pope, says in his weekly audience that the destruction in Hiroshima, which killed about 78,000 people instantly, should serve “as a universal warning against the devastation caused… by nuclear weapons.”

“I hope that in the contemporary world, marked by strong tensions and bloody conflicts, the illusory security based on the threat of mutual destruction will give way to… the practice of dialogue,” says the pontiff.

While the Catholic Church for decades gave tacit acceptance to the system of nuclear deterrence that developed in the Cold War, Leo’s predecessor Pope Francis changed the Church’s teaching to condemn the possession of nuclear arms.

Leo’s appeal comes hours after representatives from 120 countries and governments — including representatives from Israel and, for the first time, the Palestinian Authority — attended an annual ceremony in Hiroshima to mark the atomic bombing.

Israel’s Ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, writes on X that he “deeply [feels] the responsibility to honor those who lost their lives and to pass on their memory to future generations.”

広島市の平和記念公園で行われた平和記念式典にて、イスラエル代表として参列の機会をいただき、祈りを捧げました。

命を落とされた方々を追悼し、その記憶を未来へと受け継ぐ責任を深く受け止めています。 pic.twitter.com/Db3OwnSNrs

— Gilad Cohen ????????????️ (@GiladCohen_) August 5, 2025

Iran, which is accused by the West of developing nuclear weapons, said last month that it would send representatives to the ceremony, as well.

Notably absent were Iran’s nuclear-capable allies China, North Korea and Russia, although close Russia ally Belarus sent representatives to the annual ceremony for the first time in four years.