Pope in Nagasaki: No to atomic weapons, deterrence doctrine

 Pope Francis demanded world leaders renounce nuclear weapons and the Cold War-era doctrine of mutual deterrence, saying on Sunday the arms race decreases security, wastes resources and threatens humanity with catastrophic destruction.

Francis made the appeal in Nagasaki at ground zero of the second of the two 1945 U.S. atomic bombings on Japan. After laying a wreath of flowers and praying in the rain at the foot of the memorial to the victims, Francis said the place stands as a stark reminder "of the pain and horror that we human beings are capable of inflicting upon one another, The Associated press (AP) reported.

"Convinced as I am that a world without nuclear weapons is possible and necessary, I ask political leaders not to forget that these weapons cannot protect us from current threats to national and international security," he said.

The mood was somber and silent, darkened by the downpour that drenched the terraced fields and rice paddies of Nagasaki and the hundreds of Japanese who came out in plastic raincoats to witness the second pope to pay his respects to victims of the bomb.

Francis visited Nagasaki  and later Hiroshima  at the start of his three-day trip to Japan aimed at emphasizing his call for a global ban on atomic weapons.

 "Peace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build upon the fear of mutual destruction or the threat of total annihilation," he said. "They can be achieved only on the basis of a global ethic of solidarity and cooperation."