Pope Francis Creates Controversy Using Photo of Dead Child to Denounce Global War

The information was published by the Italian edition of L’Osseravatore Romano on December 30, 2017. The photograph had deeply impressed the Holy Father: it shows a young boy carrying on his back a dead baby, his little brother, waiting for him to be cremated.

The picture was taken in 1945 in Nagasaki, shortly after the explosion of the atomic bomb, explained the Roman newspaper. It was taken by an American photographer, Joseph Roger O’Donnell, who worked in Japan for four years.

Next to the photo, Francis wrote a short phrase: “the fruit of war” , followed by his signature.

The caption under the picture describes the sadness of the little boy “biting his lips which are oozing blood” as he carries his brother.