by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
The head of a statue of Our Lady that survived the horrific bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 is making its way to the U.N. in New York on a “pilgrimage of peace.”
Known locally as “Bombed Maria,” the head of the statue is all that was left of a once six-foot tall statue of Our Lady that stood in Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki after the Aug. 9 bombing that leveled the city and killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese. The face of the statue was left bleached and partially blackened by the blast, the eyes eerily hollowed.
Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki decided to take this chilling symbol of the ravages of war on a “pilgrimage of peace” that will eventually end at the United Nations in New York on May 2.
The main message of the pilgrimage will be to convey to the world that “peace can never be created by violence.” His hope is that it will “not only let more people know about the suffering caused by the atomic bombing, but also become an appeal for peace using non-violent methods.”
The pilgrimage’s first stop was at the Vatican in Rome on Wednesday when Pope Benedict XVI blessed the statue after the general audience.
The next stop is the northern Spanish city of Guernica that was carpet-bombed by German and Italian forces on April 26, 1937 where the head of another statue of Mary was also found in the rubble of a destroyed church.
“I learned that Guernica was the first city in history to suffer from [carpet] bombing,” Archbishop Takami said in an article about the pilgrimage appearing on the diocesan website. “In the process of contacting the people there, I also learned that there is still the head of a Madonna statue found in the rubble of a church destroyed by the bombing in 1937. We also have one here. It is incredible.”
The statues will be brought together in a special exhibit at the Guernica Peace Museum.
From there, the statues will be brought by their respective bishops to the United Nations in New York where they will make an appeal for the renewal of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
“Peace can never be created by violence,” Archbishop Takami said. “The abrogation of nuclear weapons has not progressed very far. My close relatives were killed by the atomic bomb too … I hope the pilgrimage not only lets more people know about the suffering caused by the atomic bombing, but it also becomes an appeal for peace using non-violent methods.”
Midori Shikayama, a spokesperson for the archdiocese, told Ecumenical News International (ENI) that the head of “Bombed Maria” will be taken to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Mass on May 2, the day before the inauguration of the NPT conference at the U.N.
The Catholic News Agency (CNA) is reporting that Archbishop Takami hopes to be able to meet with Ban Ki-Moon and the NPT conference president-elect, Libran Nuevas Cabactulan, to be able to deliver a formal statement for peace in person.
To view a photo of the statue, visit http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/bombed_maria_statue_blessed_by_pope_headed_to_u.s./
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