August 6 and 9 mark a shameful time in history when, in 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing over 200,000 people. Despite this horrific humanitarian tragedy, the world’s nuclear-armed states possess a combined total of about 12,100 nuclear warheads, putting the entire planet at risk of annihilation.
On August 6, 2024, the Franciscan Peace Center, a ministry of the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa, will be hosting a virtual prayer service to mark this dark day and to call for renewed efforts to eliminate all nuclear weapons.
The prayer service will be held via Zoom from 6-7:00 pm CDT on Tuesday, August 6, 2024.
The prayer service will be recorded for those who will not be available to participate in the live event.
CSA is a co-sponsor of this event.
This statue of Saint Agnes stands in the center of the permanent collection at the United Nations. The damaged statue was found in the ruins of a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Nagasaki, Japan in 1945. The Cathedral was completely destroyed when the atomic bomb exploded half a kilometre away. The charring and mottling on the back of the statue are the result of the intense heat and radiation.
