Originally published at National Catholic Register
The Japanese citizen was just 14 years old when the bomb fell on the city.
Shigemi Fukahori, a Japanese Catholic who survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 and who was an advocate for peace late in his life, died on Friday, Jan. 3, at age 93.
Fukahori died at a hospital in Nagasaki, according to the Urakami Cathedral located in that city. The AP reported on his death on Sunday.
The Urakami cathedral was itself destroyed in the atomic blast on Aug. 9, 1945. It was rebuilt in 1959. Peace activists have lately been working to fund a replacement for one of the cathedral’s bells destroyed in the blast.
For much of his life Fukahori “prayed almost daily” at the cathedral, the AP reported.
The Japanese citizen was just 14 years old when the bomb fell on the city. He had worked at a shipyard several miles from the bomb’s hypocenter and for years did not talk about the experience.
A postcard of the memorial service held at the Urakami Roman Catholic Cathedral, Nov. 23, 1945, in Nagasaki, Japan. Credit: Nagasaki City Office (長崎市役所), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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