Japan

As part of its long-running efforts to respect the environment and reduce its use of resources, the Vatican said it was gradually trying to replace all its service vehicles with an all-electric fleet.

A woman has filed a suit against the Roman Catholic Church in Japan alleging that a priest raped her four decades ago, as the church's unfolding worldwide sexual abuse crisis gradually reaches Japan. 

Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki, said, "I have the impression that most Americans believe that arms are necessary to protect oneself, one's families and the nation. The history, however, demonstrates how arms brought about tragedies. I want the Americans to work for peace without the possession and use of weapons."

The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by atomic bomb explosions 75 years ago this August, hastening the end of World War II. And while a nuclear arms race emerged during the 1960s, such weapons have not been deployed in warfare since. Nuclear disarmament advocates want to keep it that way.

The path to true peace requires the world to abolish nuclear weapons, an American bishop and a Japanese archbishop said as the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings at the end of World War II approached.

As finance ministers representing the world's wealthiest countries prepare to meet online, Caritas Internationalis echoed Pope Francis' call for debt relief to poor countries reeling from war, poverty and the coronavirus pandemic.

Divine Word Missionary Fr. Paul Daisuke Narui, who has been serving in Rome since 2015 as his order's coordinator for peace and justice issues, will return to Japan later this month as the new head of the diocese of Niigata, about 200 miles northwest of Tokyo.

The Jesuit General Curia in Rome announced that its former superior general, Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, died May 20 in Tokyo. He was 84.