War is the work of man. Was is destruction of human life. Was is death. Nowhere do these truths impose themselves upon us more forcefully than in this city of Hiroshima at this Peace Memorial. Two cities will forever have their names linked together, two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as the only cities in the world that have had the ill fortune to be a reminder that man its capable of destruction beyond belief. Their names will forever stand out at the names of the only cities in our time that have been singled out as a warning to future generations that war can destroy human efforts to build a world of peace. To remember the past is to commit oneself to the future. To the creator of nature and man, of truth and beauty I pray: hear my voice, for I speak for the multitudes in every country and in every period of history who do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace. Hear my voice and grant rinsight and strength so that we may always respond to hatred with love, to injustuce with total dedication to justice and to need with the sharing to self, to war with peace. O God, hear my voice and grant unto the world your everlasting peace.
Excerpts from "Appeal for Peace" by Pope John Paul II, February 25, 1981