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Since the 16th century, Nagasaki has been an important center of Catholicism in Japan, initially evangelized by Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries.
A Catholic Church in Nagasaki, destroyed by the Aug. 9, 1945, atomic bombing of the city. (photo: Public Domain )
Wednesday marked the 78th anniversary of the second atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Japan, this time on Nagasaki, a city with a rich history of Christian martyrs from the 16th and 17th centuries.
On the day “Fat Man,” the name of the bomb, was dropped, the small Japanese Catholic community lost two-thirds of its members in the conflagration.
After the destruction of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. military under commander-in-chief President Harry Truman set its sights on the city of Kokura to force the surrender of Japan.
However, bad weather caused the target to be changed to Nagasaki.
Nagasaki had about 240,000 inhabitants. A miscalculation by the Americans meant that the bomb did not fall on the center of the city, but the effect was still devastating and immediately killed some 75,000 people. In the days that followed, a similar number died from radiation injuries and illnesses.
History of the Catholic Community in Nagasaki
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
Wednesday marked the 78th anniversary of the second atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Japan, this time on Nagasaki, a city with a rich history of Christian martyrs from the 16th and 17th centuries.
On the day “Fat Man,” the name of the bomb, was dropped, the small Japanese Catholic community lost two-thirds of its members in the conflagration.
After the destruction of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. military under commander-in-chief President Harry Truman set its sights on the city of Kokura to force the surrender of Japan.
However, bad weather caused the target to be changed to Nagasaki.
Nagasaki had about 240,000 inhabitants. A miscalculation by the Americans meant that the bomb did not fall on the center of the city, but the effect was still devastating and immediately killed some 75,000 people. In the days that followed, a similar number died from radiation injuries and illnesses.
History of the Catholic Community in Nagasaki
Continued below.
Atomic Bomb Dropped on Nagasaki Killed Two-Thirds of the City’s Catholics 78 Years Ago
Since the 16th century, Nagasaki has been an important center of Catholicism in Japan, initially evangelized by Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries.
