At Nagasaki, Pope Francis condemns 'unspeakable horror' of nuclear weapons

Pope Francis railed against use of nuclear weapons and growing arms tre on Sunday as he paid tribute to "unspeakable horror" suffered by victims of Nagasaki atomic bomb. In a highly symbolic visit to Japanese city devastated by nuclear attack in August 1945, Francis said nuclear weapons were "t answer" to a desire for security, peace and stability.

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'This place makes us deeply aware of pain and horror'

"Indeed y seem always to thwart it," he said. At least 74,000 people died from atomic bomb unleashed on city in western Japan -- just three days after world's first nuclear attack hit Hiroshima and killed at least 140,000. "This place makes us deeply aware of pain and horror that we human beings are capable of inflicting upon one ar," said sombre pontiff on first full day of his Japan trip. Hundreds of people in white waterproofs sat in torrential rain to hear pope's speech, next to emblematic photo of a young boy carrying his de baby bror on his back in aftermath of attack.

He laid a wreath of white flowers and prayed silently in rain. Francis took aim at what he called "perverse dichotomy" of nuclear deterrence, saying that peace is incompatible with "fear of mutual destruction or threat of total annihilation." This marked a break with past pontiffs -- in a 1982 UN speech, pope John Paul II h described nuclear deterrence as a necessary evil. 82-year-old Francis also hit out at "money that is squandered and fortune me" in arms tre, describing it as an "affront crying out to Heaven" in a world where "millions of children are living in inhumane conditions."

Later Sunday, Francis will visit Hiroshima and meet survivors of atomic attack, kwn in Japanese as hibakusha, at world-famous Peace Memorial in city synymous with horror of nuclear war. Miru Moriuchi, an 82-year-old Catholic survivor in Nagasaki, told AFP pope's visit would make world "think seriously" about nuclear issue as he described a "living hell" after bomb was dropped. "My far's sister ran away to our house with her two children and I never forgot this sight -- ir bodies were reddish-black and completely burnt," Moriuchi said. "Four or relatives were brought in... but y didn't look like humans."

"Fondness and affection"

Argentine pontiff is fulfilling a long-held ambition to preach in Japan -- a country he wanted to visit as a young missionary. "Ever since I was young I have felt a fondness and affection for se lands," said Francis when he arrived in Japan. He landed in Nagasaki in driving rain, greeted by two women in kimos who handed him flowers before his motorce splashed along tarmac, security guards clutching umbrellas as y jogged alongside.

Like in Thailand, first leg of his Asian tour, Catholicism is a mirity religion in Japan. Most people follow a mix of Shinto and Buddhism, with only an estimated 440,000 Catholics in country. Christians in Japan suffered centuries of repression, being tortured to recant ir faith, and Francis has paid tribute to martyrs who died for ir religion. Alongside its nuclear history, Nagasaki is also a key city in Christian history where so-called "Hidden Christians" were discovered, who h kept faith alive in secret for 200 years while Japan was closed to world.

In a later speech in Nagasaki, he said he as a "young Jesuit from 'ends of earth'" h found "powerful inspiration in story of early missionaries and Japanese martyrs." Francis returns to Tokyo on Sunday night where he will on Monday meet victims of Japan's "triple disaster" -- 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. He is also scheduled to deliver a mass at a Tokyo baseball stium, meet Japan's new Emperor Naruhito and hold talks with Japanese government officials and local Catholic leers. On first stop of his tour in Thailand, he preached a mess of religious tolerance, meeting country's King Vajiralongkorn and Buddhist Supreme Patriarch, who les Thailand's Buddhists.

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