Westminster Justice and Peace will be joining Pax Christi UK for the annual commemorations of the events of August 1945 when two nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan, killing over 150,000 people instantly and causing devastating long-term effects for millions more.
You are invited to join us as we unite our prayers with peacemakers around the world and call for an end to all nuclear weapons so that they can never be used again.
WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL
6 August, 11.00am-1.00pm: Hiroshima Day – Vigil at Westminster Cathedral
Hiroshima Day Scripture Reading
9 August, 11.00am-1.00pm: Nagasaki Day – Vigil at Westminster Cathedral
Nagasaki Day Scripture Reading
St Albans
4 August, 3-4pm: Hiroshima & Nagasaki Memorial Service, St. Albans Cathedral
Members of St Alban and St Stephen Catholic Church Justice and Peace Group will be among the participants at the annual ecumenical Hiroshima and Nagasaki Memorial Service on Sunday 4th August 2024. Meet at 2.50pm at Abbey Peace Pillar, Sumpter Yard, St Albans Cathedral.
Online
6 August, 8.00-9.00pm: Hiroshima Day Online Prayer Vigil
The Anglican Pacifist Fellowship and Christian CND invite us to join their online prayer vigil on Hiroshima Day. The vigil starts at 8.00pm and you can register here:
APF and CCND Online Prayer Vigil Registration
Interfaith Walk and Peace Pagoda Vigil
9 August 2024, from c. 7:30pm: Interfaith Peace Walk from Holy Apostles Pimlico to the London Peace Pagoda
Nagasaki Day coincides with the anniversary of an important martyr for peace, Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, and every year Pax Christi combines these two anniversaries with an ecumenical service, followed by an interfaith walk and vigil.
This year the service will take place at the Holy Apostles Church in Pimlico, in memory of the 81st anniversary of Blessed Franz Jägerstätter’s execution in 1943 for refusing to serve in Hitler’s army.
Following the service, there will be an interfaith Peace Walk to the London Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park for a Lantern-Lighting Ceremony around the pagoda (not in the Thames!) This will begin when the peace walkers arrive at the Peace Pagoda, to commemorate the 79th Anniversary for victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all wars. The ceremony seeks to reflect on the horrors of war in an atomic age, and to pray together for peace and harmony between all peoples and nations.
All are very welcome to join us at any point in the evening for the service, walk or vigil and to offer flowers and incense.
Diocese of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission 