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Pilgrimage of Peace

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By University of Notre Dame

October 8^th, 2025

In August 2025 three Notre Dame students joined university students from the U.S. and Japan on a pilgrimage of peace led by four U.S. Bishops to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of those cities at the end of WWII.

Pilgrimage of Peace

Above: University of Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. visits the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, commonly known as the Atomic Dome. Below, a video reflection by Notre Dame students on their experience on the pilgrimage.

Keough School of Global Affairs doctoral student Paul Kyumin Lee, front left, and undergraduate students Maddie Colbert and Matthew Scherber join other university students from the US and Japan at a prayer service in Nagasaki.

Hiroshima

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Dome, commonly called the Atomic Bomb Dome, photographed in 1945. At the time of the atomic bombing, the building was used an art and educational exhibilition hall. Photo by Shigeo Hayashi, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Pilgrimage of Peace

Pilgrimage of Peace

Pilgrimage of Peace

Pilgrimage of Peace

Pilgrimage of Peace

Hiroshima's annual Peace Memorial Day, the August 6 anniversary of the atomic bombing in WWII, concludes with the lantern ceremony on the Motoyasu River.

Nagasaki

Pilgrimage of Peace

Pilgrimage of Peace

Pilgrimage of Peace

Pilgrimage of Peace

Pilgrimage of Peace

Pilgrimage of Peace

“Perhaps the most important takeaway from this pilgrimage was the realization that faith-based peacebuilders must act to address the injustice that persists from nuclear weapons and violent conflicts.”

—Paul Kyumin Lee, doctoral student in the Keough School of Global Affairs

Pilgrimage of Peace

“Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil.”

—Inscription on the Memorial Cenotaph in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Footnotes

Video by Tony Fuller, photos by Matt Cashore except where noted.

FootNotes

Video by Tony Fuller, photos by Matt Cashore except where noted.

© 2026 University of Notre Dame

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