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Apology petition to the people of Japan on the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombings

By Art Laffin

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Pax Christi USA has just posted an updated Apology Petition to the People of Japan to commemorate the upcoming 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombings on August 6-9, 2025.

About the Petition
 
On August 6, 2016, during a prayer service of repentance and nonviolent witness to commemorate the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in front of the White House, an apology petition was read and presented to Mr. Mimaki, a Hiroshima A-bomb survivor (hibakusha). The witness was sponsored by the Dorothy Catholic Worker, Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore and Pax Christi USA in cooperation with other faith-based peace and justice groups. More than 700 people signed the petition. In September 2016, Mr. Mimaki delivered the petition to the mayor of Hiroshima and later was presented to the Hiroshima Peace Museum.
To mark the 75th anniversary of the US atomic bombings of Japan, an updated petition was signed by more than 240 people and was sent to and received by the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to Nihon Hidankyō, the main A-Bomb survivors (hibakusha) organization in Japan and 2024 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The original petition was composed by Scott Wright and myself and is the fruit of years of public witness by nuclear abolitionists who met and were inspired by many hibakusha. The petition was cosponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore, the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, the Isaiah Project, the Sisters of Mercy Justice Team, Little Friends for Peace, Jonah House, the Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Committee of the National Capital Area, and Pax Christi USA. The Petition has been used each year at Aug. 6-9th commemoration witnesses at the Pentagon and White House. Please sign and incorporate the use of the Petition in local acts of nonviolent witness and circulate widely. 
This updated petition for 2025 has been revised to include new developments regarding the increasing danger of nuclear war, a papal proclamation regarding the immorality of possessing nuclear weapons, and the TPNW. It will be sent to the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to Nihon Hidankyō, and church leaders.
In hope for a disarmed world,
Art

About the Author


Art Laffin

Art Laffin is a member of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington, D.C. For over four decades, Art has been an organizer, writer, and speaker in the faith-based nonviolent movement for peace and social justice. He has participated in numerous nonviolent actions to end all war, weapons and state-sanctioned killing, and has been imprisoned for his involvement in the Trident Nein and Thames River plowshares actions and others’ actions. He has traveled to war zones in Northern Ireland, Central America, Palestine and Iraq to stand with people who are nonviolently resisting war and occupation. Since his brother’s murder in 1999, he has been actively involved with the Journey of Hope to end the death penalty. He is author of a new edition of The Risk of the Cross: Living Gospel Nonviolence in the Nuclear Age and is co-editor of three editions of Swords Into Plowshares. He is also co-editor of Arise and Witness: Poems by Sr. Anne Montgomery RSCJ About Faith, Prison, War Zones and Nonviolent Resistance. 

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