Prayers and peace vigils on anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

'The fruits of war.' Pope Francis prayer card for World Day of Prayer for Peace 2017. Photo by Joseph Roger O'Donnell, shows young Japanese boy waiting at crematorium with his dead younger brother on his back. Source: Vatican Media

This week marks the 74th anniversary of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At 8.15am on August 6, 1945, the city of Hiroshima was destroyed with an atomic bomb. In a few minutes thousands of people lost their lives in the attack. Three days later the city of Nagasaki met the same fate. Many more thousands died later of radiation sickness.

Prayer services, vigils and demonstrations will be taking place around the world to mark these dates. Today's nuclear weapons are each more than 3,000 times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

6 August

London: Pax Christi will be holding a stall outside Westminster Cathedral from 11am - 4pm. There will be prayers at 12 noon and 3pm. Contact the office on 0208 203 4884 for more details.

Coventry: Hiroshima Day will commemorated at Coventry Cathedral 6-7pm

Aylesford Priory: Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembrance @ Choir Chapel 8.15pm - 9.30pm

Trident Ploughshares will be organising a series of protests in London - beginning on Tuesday 6 August, at 3.45pm, outside Lockheed Martin UK HQ, of the world's largest arms companies and manufacturer of key components of Trident. Cunard House, 15 Regent Street SW1Y 4LR. Further actions will be announced during the week.

Washington DC, USA - 7.30-8.30am. Campaigners are organising a Prayer Service of Repentance and Nonviolent Witness at the Pentagon. If you are coming by metro, please get off at Pentagon stop-Yellow Line. Take south exit coming out of metro. When you reach the top of escalator go left and then right on the sidewalk going away from building toward South Parking lot. Vigil site is down on the left side behind a bicycle fence. We will meet at fenced-off Designated Protest Area

9 August

London: Pax Pax Christi will be holding a stall outside Westminster Cathedral from 11am - 4pm. There will be prayers at 12 noon and 3pm. Contact the office on 0208 203 4884 for more details.

London: A Commemoration Service for Franz Jagerstatter will be held in the Crypt of Westminster Cathedral at 6.30pm The service will be followed by the interfaith peace walk to the London Peace Pagoda for a Buddhist lantern-lighting ceremony to commemorated those who died. Contact Nipponzan Myohoji 0207 228 9620 for more details.

Dunbar, Scotland: Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki, St Anne's Church, 12am - 1pm

Washington DC, USA - At 1pm there will be a Prayer Service of Repentance outside the White House. As you face the north side of the White House from Lafayette Park we will be on the street to the left of the fenced off area. This is due to construction of new White House Fence. A Hiroshima survivor has been invited to join us and we hope she will be able to come and offer a short message. For more info contact Art Laffin, Dorothy Day Catholic Worker: 202-360-6416, artlaffin@hotmail.com

LINKS

Pax Christi UK: http://paxchristi.org.uk/

CND: https://cnduk.org/

Pax Christi Metro New York: www.nypaxchristi.org

Trident Ploughshares: https://tridentploughshares.org/category/trident/