Remembrance Day 2018: Peace Events

Pax Christi, together with a network of other peace groups in the First World War Peace Forum, have been promoting this message to churches, communities and individuals who will gather around the country to remember the end of the First World War with a commitment to working for peace for the future. Serious remembrance of wars calls for serious work for peace.

Pax Christi have been overwhelmed with orders from churches and Cathedrals for a postcard they have produced for the day which invites people to think about their own family's experience of war and of all the wars taking place in our world today. It also invites them to mark Remembrance with a commitment to end war and invest in peacemaking by challenging the global trade in arms and promoting peace in our schools and among young people. A prayer from Pope Francis with the words: instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace,is also offered.

There have been hundreds of visits to the Pax Christi web resources for Remembrance which offer liturgy ideas, poems and stories of Catholic Conscientious Objectors of the First World War. In Leeds, the Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission and Leeds Pax Christi have created their own liturgical resource which has been sent to every parish in the Diocese. It carries a special message from Bishop Marcus Stock , " In remembering the lives of soldiers who died in the First World War, we can easily forget the any others who suffered and for whom the war had a great impact. These include civilians on all sides, those who died from accidents in munitions factories such as Barnbow in Leeds), the effects of communities decimated by their loss of men and those who were Conscientious Objectors. The necessity of remembering has not always sat well with a commitment to working for peace."

Pax Christi in Australia are also commemorating Remembrance Day with a commitment to peace. In Melbourne, a day conference is organised on 11 November with the theme : A World at Peace with itself - an elusive dream or achievable goal?

Pax Christi members around the country are involved in the following:

3 November, London, 4.30pm - 5pm. Westminster Abbey, Victoria St London
An ecumenical peace service at the memorial to victims of war in front of Westminster Abbey. Prayers, readings and reflections.

9 November. Guildford 10am - 12noon Mass followed by prayer vigil for peace
Prayer vigil for peace St Joseph's Catholic Church, Guildford. Organised by the J&P Group to commemorate the 'War to end all wars'

10 November, Leeds, 2.30pm - 3.0pm, Mill Hill Chapel, City Square, Leeds
Remembrance is not enough - ecumenical service organised by J&P Leeds and Pax Christi Leeds
A special service of more than just Remembrance on the eve of the centenary of the 'War to end all wars'. The guest speaker at this service will the Anglican theologian Andrew Shanks.

11 November, Liverpool 11 - 12am. The Peace Garden, St John's Lane, Liverpool
Members of Pax Christi Liverpool will join in a peace service and wreath-laying event in the Peace Garden. Following this, at 1.00pm there will be a reading of names of Conscientious Objectors who were detained at Walton Prison, Hornby Road, Liverpool

11 November, London 1pm - 2pm Tavistock Square, London. A ceremony of Remembrance and Peace - 100 years after the First World War, with readings by actor Michael Mears, music by Maya Youssef, Syrian singer, poetry reading and symbolic actions.

11 November, London 2 - 5pm. Get together for peace. Event at Friends House, drop in and meet peace activists and find out about current peace campaigns. Cafe, live music, films, books and more. Friends House Euston London NW1 2BJ

The First World War Peace Forum members are: Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, Conscience: Taxes for Peace not War, Network for Peace, PAX Christi, Peace Pledge Union, Peace News, Quakers in Britain, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Movement for the Abolition of War, Right to Refuse to Kill Group, and The Fellowship of Reconciliation.

See full listing of events: http://paxchristi.org.uk/news-and-events/events-calendar/

Resources: http://paxchristi.org.uk/news-and-events/remembrance-2018/