80 years after an atomic bomb devastated Nagasaki, Catholics at Urakami Cathedral have replaced a bell destroyed in the 1945 blast
Newsroom (28/07/2025, Gaudium Press) Nearly 80 years after an atomic bomb devastated Nagasaki, Catholics at Urakami Cathedral have replaced a bell destroyed in the 1945 blast, marking a poignant milestone in the city’s journey toward healing and reconciliation.
The new bell, installed in the cathedral’s left tower, was funded through an international campaign that raised $125,000 from 628 individual donors in just over a year, according to Williams College Professor James Nolan. The effort culminated in a blessing ceremony on July 17, with the bell set to be officially rung on Aug. 9, 2025, at 11:02 a.m.—the exact moment the atomic bomb detonated 1,600 feet west of the church in 1945.
Nagasaki, alongside Hiroshima, was one of two Japanese cities ravaged by U.S. atomic bombings at the close of World War II. The Aug. 9, 1945, attack leveled much of the city, including Urakami Cathedral, a spiritual center for Nagasaki’s Catholic community. While parishioners recovered one of the cathedral’s original bells after the bombing and reinstalled it in the rebuilt church in 1959, the second bell was lost, leaving the left tower silent for decades.
The project to replace the bell was sparked by a conversation between Nolan, a sociology professor, and Kojiro Moriuchi, a parishioner at Urakami Cathedral. While researching a book on the local Catholic response to the bombing, Nolan recalled Moriuchi’s wish that American Catholics might help restore the missing bell. “It would be wonderful if American Catholics gave us the bell for the left tower,” Moriuchi told him, prompting Nolan to lead the fundraising effort.
Nolan’s connection to the project is deeply personal. His grandfather served as the chief medical officer at Los Alamos, New Mexico, where the atomic bomb was developed, and later surveyed the devastation in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. “People were keen to give once they learned the story about Nagasaki,” Nolan told Catholic News Agency (CNA). The campaign, launched in 2024, reached its $125,000 goal on July 15, 2025, covering the bell’s construction, transportation, and installation.
At the July 17 blessing ceremony, Nagasaki Archbishop Peter Michiaki Nakamura named the bell the “St. Kateri Bell of Hope,” according to the Associated Press. Moriuchi, speaking at the event, was visibly moved, Nolan noted. The bell’s installation on Aug. 9 will coincide with the 80th anniversary of the bombing, symbolizing a bridge between past wounds and future reconciliation.
A remnant of the original cathedral’s wall stands in Nagasaki Peace Park, a somber reminder of the destruction. At the rebuilt parish, Nolan hopes the new bell will “foster hope and peace and solidarity between American and Japanese Catholics.” During the blessing ceremony, he shared sentiments from American donors, who expressed “sorrow, regret, sadness, and a wish for forgiveness and reconciliation.”
One donor wrote, “May the ringing of these bells continue to remind the people of Nagasaki of our sorrow for what their people have endured and reassure them of ours and God’s love for them.” Another described the bell as a gesture “to heal the wounds of this war and progress to world peace.”
As Nagasaki prepares to ring the St. Kateri Bell of Hope, the moment will resonate as both a memorial to the past and a call for unity in the present.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from CNA
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