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Press release from the March 9th Event at Georgetown University with the Most Reverend Mitsuaki Takami, Archbishop of Nagasaki and Sr. Filo Hirota, President of the Japanese Leadership Conference of Women Religious |
For immediate release
March 8, 2007
The Most Reverend Mitsuaki Takami will speak at Georgetown University,
meet with religious leaders, Congressional offices on U.S. military policy for the Asia-Pacific
Washington, DC—His Excellency, the Most Reverend Mitsuaki Takami, Archbishop of Nagasaki, Japan will travel to the United States to speak with U.S. political and religious leaders on the importance of preserving Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution—the so-called “peace clause.” Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which has provided a concrete model for an institutional commitment to nonviolence, has come under recent threats as the Japanese government, with U.S. encouragement, moves toward remilitarization.
Archbishop Takami, who serves as president of the Japanese Bishops’ Commission for Social Concerns, will speak at Georgetown University on Monday, March 12, at 5:30pm. The presentation, “Political Non-Violence and the Threat of a Remilitarized Asia Pacific: The Controversy Surrounding Japan's Constitutional Commitment to Nonviolence, its Implications for Global Peace, and U.S. Policy Considerations,” will take place at the Riggs Library in Healy Hall on the Georgetown campus. Sr. Filo Hirota, MMB, president of the Japanese Leadership Conference of Women Religious, will also present. The event is being sponsored by Georgetown University’s Department of Theology, the Woodstock Theological Center, the Office of the President of Georgetown University and Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace and justice movement (www.paxchristiusa.org).
Following the end of World War II, one of the objectives of the Allied Occupation of Japan was to demilitarize Japan so that it could never again go to war; the military was demobilized and Article 9 was added to the 1946 Japanese Constitution. Article 9 reads: “Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes. (2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized. (Article 9, Japanese Constitution, 1946)
But Article 9 is currently under threat of being dismantled. The Japanese government is seeking to revise the Constitution, as early as this spring, to allow Japan to have military forces that could be dispatched anywhere in the world. Strongly supported by the U.S. government, revising Article 9 would permit Japan to engage in proactive military ventures, including playing a prominent role in the U.S. “war on terrorism” and the U.S. military transformation strategy in the Asia Pacific. Such a move would fuel a new arms race and further heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula and across the Taiwan Strait, having serious implications for global peace.
At a time when the world desperately needs new paths towards peace—through dialogue, confidence building and mutual cooperation—the preservation of Article 9 for Japan and promotion of its model for other countries, is an urgent concern for the Japanese Catholic Bishops Conference and their Council for Justice and Peace. In addition to the speech at Georgetown, the Archbishop and his delegation will meet with congressional offices on March 12-14, and also strategize with U.S. religious leaders.
The Archbishop’s delegation to the United States is being hosted by Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace and justice movement.
The Archbishop and members of the Japanese delegation will be available for interview requests on March 12-14. For more information, contact:
Johnny Zokovitch, Pax Christi USA Communications Director:
(352) 219-8419 or johnnypcusa@yahoo.com
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