Holy Mass in Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo (24 February 1981)

On Tuesday, 24 February 1981, the Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass in Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. In his homily, the Pope spoke of Hiroshima, as a “symbol of the threats towards which all humanity is heading, if it does not manage to overcome the terrible temptation to dominate others through total nuclear destruction.”

1. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you" (Jn 14, 27). These are the words of Christ to the Apostles, and we repeat these words every day at Mass, before communion.

In this way, Christ himself pronounces these words every day, and shares his peace with us every day, just as he shares with us his Body and Blood in the Eucharistic species.

Every day, therefore, we receive his peace from Christ, to give it to others. To transmit it.

This same thing already happens during the liturgy, when, when pronouncing the words "peace be upon you", we extend our hands to the person next to us and express our fraternal closeness, our desire for peace and love.

From this place, where the Eucharistic liturgy is celebrated, the sign of peace spreads in great waves towards men, families, neighborhoods, nations and towards all humanity.

Christ, our Lord, is the tireless giver of peace, that peace that the world cannot give, because the world does not know it (cf. Jn 14:27).

2. Dear brothers and sisters!

I come to you in the name of Christ.  In the name of Christ I set foot yesterday on this remote island, in this vast city, capital of your nation and the Empire, a city that is also one of the headquarters of the Church in Japan.

I come to you as a pilgrim, following the paths of the Good News, which arrived here centuries ago and was received as the message of God's love for men, as the message of peace. "For God so loved the world, that he gave him his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3:16 ) . Precisely in the name of this Christ, the Son of the Eternal God, and at the same time our brother, the Son of Mary of Nazareth, I am here in your midst and I say to you: "Peace be with you."

3. I say it to each and every one of you. Peace is a precious possession of the human heart. That is why I address your hearts in this way and wish each of you peace of heart.

The peace of a good conscience.

This is inner peace, the gift of grace and the fruit of good works, which fills our lives with joy and happiness. For the love of this peace I want to pray together with you for every brother and sister of your Japanese Church and of all the islands of Japan. Peace of heart.

4. As we celebrate among you and with you the Eucharist of our Lord Jesus Christ, I wish that all of us find in it peace with our neighbors. Peace: the fruit of justice. Peace: the fruit of love. How easily this peace is broken!

How often men are divided among themselves, despite being physically close, even within the same family!

May Christ grant us the ability to be at peace with others. May the words of his Sermon on the Mount be realized in us: "Blessed are the peaceful" (Mt 5:9).

Let's learn to build peace: and to build in peace the society of our families, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, schools, offices and factories!

Christ, the builder of peace, offers the men of this earth the blessing of peace. May they cooperate with her, realizing justice and love in all the circumstances of life.

5. And now I have set foot in the country that has known the singular horror of destruction during the last war.

The name of the Japanese city of Hiroshima has become a symbol of the threats towards which all humanity is heading, if it does not manage to overcome the terrible temptation to dominate others through total nuclear destruction.

Here, where the memory and signs of the explosion of the first atomic bomb are alive and evident, the words of Christ cannot fail to acquire a particular intensity: Peace be with you!

These words must become a challenge. They must echo the full horror of the final warning. They must become a call, a categorical call to all possible cooperation of men in favor of peace in the world.

To the collaboration  of men of all languages, all nations, all races and all religions. Christ says: "My peace I give to you."

How much we still have to do so that this gift of peace comes to us, so that it is not destroyed by our cowardice or our evil, so that we can avoid a new Hiroshima on humanity.

6. In the middle of this immense city, in Japan, Christ addresses us every day and tells us: Peace be with you! He says it to those who are meek, loving and kind, to the sons and daughters of this country, who have a particularly deep sensitivity to appreciate the beauty of the world and the order that governs nature.

Man is called by God to recreate himself in this beauty, to enter into communion with this order.

The human heart must beat calmly to the rhythm of all creation, through which the Creator speaks to it.

But the human heart is restless, and cannot rest (as the great Augustine wrote) until it rests in God.

7. Today I want to repeat to the hearts of the sons and daughters of Japan the words of Christ about peace and, by repeating them in the great Eucharistic prayer, I express this hope: May these hearts find, through Christ, peace in God! ! That peace that the world cannot give. Amen.

Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana