The Fruit of War – A reminder from Pope Franciscus

The front side of the card displays a picture taken by American photographer Joseph Roger O’Donnell, a Marine who worked for four years after the atomic blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki documenting their impact. The shot shows a young Japanese boy standing in line at a crematorium with his dead younger brother on his back.

The reverse side carries the inscription, “The fruit of war,” running above the pope’s signature.

The young boy’s sadness is expressed only in his gesture of biting his lips, which are oozing blood,” the inscription on the pope’s card says.

The card with the photo of Nagasaki also comes at the close of a year in which the threat of nuclear conflict once again had the world on edge, in light of North Korea’s threat to use nuclear weapons, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow that America would unleash “fire and fury” should that happen.

In November, the Vatican hosted a major international summit on nuclear disarmament gathering 11 Nobel Peace Prize winners, in which Francis warned against “the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects of any employment of nuclear devices.”

“International relations cannot be held captive to military force, mutual intimidation, and the parading of stockpiles of arms,” he said.

Nuclear weapons, Francis said, “create nothing but a false sense of security,” adding that “the threat of their use, as well as their very possession, is firmly to be condemned.”

Though release of the photo in the run-up to New Year’s does not add anything substantive to the pontiff’s positions, it’s nevertheless the first time Francis has asked that a specific image be circulated in the holiday season, suggesting he believes its message is especially relevant at the moment. (Source: Crux)

The picture was taken in 1945 and was published in the book titled “Japan 1945: A US. Marine’s Photographs from Ground Zero.”

The distribution of the cars suggests the Pope believes the message is especially important at this time of year. The threat of nuclear conflict once again has the world on edge, in light of North Korea’s threat to use nuclear weapons, and US President Donald Trump’s vow that America would unleash “fire and fury” should that happen.”

The Pope must be as scared as I am, and I am grateful he used the image of the little boy on this years Holiday card. We have the tendency to forget, and some events and pictures should never be forgotten.

January 1st is World Day of Peace