Pope Francis orders printing and distribution of image of boy carrying his dead brother after nuclear bombing of Nagasaki

The harrowing image of a boy carrying his dead brother on his shoulders while waiting in line at a crematorium after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, is to be printed and distributed at Pope Francis’order and to be captioned as “the fruit of war” along with his signature “Franciscus.” 

Attached to the caption of heartbreaking photo captured by US Marine photographer Joe O’Donnell, after the nuclear bombs were dropped in Nagasaki at the end of World War II is;

The young boy’s sadness is expressed only in his gesture of biting his lips which are oozing blood.

 

Pope Francis who before now said the possession of nuclear weapon is ‘irrational’ while condemning the plight of children in war zones, hopes that the photo will calm the heated tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.

Today, is it legitimate to keep nuclear arsenals as they are? Or to save creation, to save humanity today, isn’t it necessary to go back? Pope Francis added.

CNN’s senior Vatican analyst John Allen wrote on his website: 

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.

 

This is coming after Express reported of an attempt by The Vatican City, to open a dialogue between Pyongyang (North Korea) and the Holy See.

After the bombs dropped by the US on Nagasaki and Hiroshima forced Japan’s surrender and ended World War II in 1945, O’Donnell spent four years documenting the aftermath in the two cities, according to Library of Congress records. His photos were published in the book titled “Japan 1945: A US. Marine’s Photographs from Ground Zero.”