The Memorial Cathedral of World Peace grew from the ashes of the previous Noboricho parish church that was destroyed in the atomic bombing of August 6, 1945. The German pastor of the church, the Reverend Hugo Lassalle, was wounded in the bombing but determined to rebuild his church as a memorial to world peace. Gaining the blessing of Pope Pius XII in Rome, Lassalle collected contributions from all around the world to obtain the funds to build the new Memorial Cathedral of World Peace, which was completed on 6 August 1954 and was designed by Japanese architect Murano Togo. The church is the hub of Catholic life in Hiroshima and the building itself is designated as an Important Cultural Property.
