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A project is underway to encourage U.S. Catholics to support the casting of a new bell for Nagasaki’s Urakami Cathedral, marking the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing on August 9, 2025. James L. Nolan Jr., a sociology professor at Williams College, initiated the Nagasaki Bell Project after visiting Nagasaki in spring 2023.
Nolan was inspired by a parishioner who suggested that American Catholics could donate a bell to replace one destroyed in the bombing. The project aims to cast, ship, and install a large bronze bell with an estimated cost of $125,000. As of November this year, nearly $52,000 has been raised.
The original Urakami Cathedral was near the epicenter of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The attack resulted in over 70,000 deaths and left much of the city in ruins. Dr. Takashi Nagai, a Catholic physician who survived the bombing despite severe injuries and leukemia, became an advocate for peace and forgiveness before his death six years later.
Nagai's story has become emblematic of faith and resilience amidst suffering. He encouraged survivors to find hope by ringing one intact bell from the cathedral's ruins on Christmas Eve in 1945. A new cathedral was rebuilt in 1959 with that original bell installed in one tower.
Dr. Nagai’s book "The Bells of Nagasaki" calls for peace and opposes nuclear war: “Men and women of the world, never again plan war! With this atomic bomb, war can only mean suicide for the human race.”
James Nolan plans to be present at Urakami Cathedral next August when he hopes to hear the new bell ring out as part of commemorating this historical legacy.
More information about The Nagasaki Bell Project is available at stkateriinstitute.org/nagasaki-bell-project.
