August 6, 1945. Could we have at least afforded them a demonstration detonation offshore beforehand? They still would not have surrendered, but we would have met a certain moral obligation. -nvp
Thanks to Dr. Mazza for the following:
“…the use of the A-bomb on the Japanese cities
in 1945 was immoral. Too many civilians were
killed in comparison with the military objectives
gained. Some…argue that by killing so many
civilians our armies terrorized the people…to
surrender…more lives were spared than were
destroyed by the bomb. But such an argument…
results in a bad means to a good end.”
–Fr. Francis J. Connell, Dean School of Theology, CUA,
Outlines of Moral Theology, 1958
As for the eight priests who miraculously survived at Ground Zero (ICYMI):
Fr. Hubert Schiffer had just finished Mass, went into the
rectory and sat down at the breakfast table. He had just
sliced a grapefruit and put his spoon into it when there
was a bright flash of light. His first thought was that it was
an explosion in the harbor (this was a major port where
the Japanese refueled submarines.)
Then, in the words of Fr. Schiffer: “Suddenly, a terrific
explosion filled the air with one bursting thunderstroke.
An invisible force lifted me from the chair, hurled me
through the air, shook me, battered me, whirled me ’round
and ’round like a leaf in a gust of autumn wind.”
…
To the doctors’ amazement, Father Schiffer and the other priests had no
radiation or ill-effects from the bomb. When asked to account for this
incredible situation, in which he and his companions were spared, he
said: “We believe that we survived because we were living the message
of Fatima. We lived and prayed the Rosary daily in that home.”
He felt that they received a protective shield from the Blessed Mother,
which protected them from all radiation and ill-effects. (This coincides
with the bombing of Nagasaki, where St. Maximilian Kolbe had
established a Franciscan Friary which was also unharmed because of
special protection from the Blessed Mother, as the brothers, too, prayed
the daily Rosary and also had no effects from the bomb).
Father Hubert Schiffer died on March 27, 1982, 37 years after that fateful
day. He gave his account of the Hiroshima bombing at the Eucharistic
Congress in Philadelphia in 1976. At the time, all eight members of the
Jesuit community from Hiroshima were still alive.
Glory to God in the highest!
Power of rosary and Mary’s protective mantle.
Same thing like the first Crusade: you were just entering the war and unjust on how you fought it. There is no simple “yes, it was wholly just” or “no, it was unadulterated evil”.