Pope urges world leaders to renounce nuclear weapons during visit to Japan

Pope Francis meets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the official residence of the prime minister, also known as Sori Daijin Kantei, in Tokyo, Japan, November 25, 2019. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

TOKYO (Reuters) - Pope Francis appealed on Monday to world leaders to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again, a day after he visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only cities ever to be hit by atomic bombs.

Nuclear disarmament has been a key theme of the pope's trip to Japan, a country not only haunted by the memory of the two attacks that ended World War Two but also alarmed by the nuclear programme and missile tests of nearby North Korea.