Receive Japanese PM, Pope Francis Discuss Nuclear Weapons To North Korean Ballistic Missiles

JAKARTA - Pope Francis and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met and discussed a number of issues, as well as hopes to see a world free from nuclear weapons.

Pope Francis and PM Kishida met for about half an hour in the reception hall of the Vatican's audience hall, just before Francis held a general audience for thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.

"They are talking about nuclear weapons and how their use and possession is inconceivable," said Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.

The two met on the same day, when Russia's Foreign Ministry announced sanctions against 63 Japanese officials, including PM Kishida, for engaging in what he called "unacceptable rhetoric" against Moscow.

In a reading of the meeting, the Japanese Embassy to the Vatican, said in a statement that the pope and Kishida also discussed North Korea's firing of a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast on Wednesday and concerns about the north's nuclear potential.

Earlier, during his visit to Japan in 2019, Pope Francis visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which in 1945 were the only cities to have been hit by an atomic bomb, calling on world leaders to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again.

To note, Pope Francis supports UN treaties that aim to ban nuclear weapons and says possessing them for deterrence purposes is immoral.

In a separate statement the Vatican said, in subsequent discussions with top Vatican diplomats, special attention was paid to the war in Ukraine, "emphasizing the importance of dialogue and peace and expressing hope, to this end, for a world free from nuclear weapons".

Since Russia invaded its neighbor on February 24, Pope Francis has spoken several times about the possibility of nuclear conflict as a result of war.