In Ottawa, clerics speak of peace
Crowds brave cold at national ceremony
OTTAWA • Spiritual leaders reflected on the horrors of the First World War while calling for a world of tolerance and peace on Sunday as thousands of Canadians braved the biting cold to remember and honour those who fought to defend such ideals.
While the sun shone down on those assembled around the National War Memorial under a brilliant blue sky, thoughts and memories of the War to End All Wars — which ended exactly 100 years earlier — hung heavy over the annual ceremony.
“We gather on this hallowed ground, on which is interred Canada’s unknown soldiers, to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Maj.-Gen. Guy Chapdelaine, the military’s most senior chaplain, intoned as the crowd stood silently.
“On the centenary of the signing of the armistice, we honour those whose names we know — and those whose names are known to God alone.”
Yet Chapdelaine also preached a message of peace and reconciliation as he addressed growing concerns in Canada and around the world that the hard lessons learned from that terrible conflict and the Second World War are in danger of being forgotten.
“Lord of justice and peace, enable us to lay down our own weapons of exclusion, intolerance, hatred and strife,” Chapdelaine said. “Make us instruments of peace that we may seek reconciliation in our world.”
The theme was picked up by Rabbi Reuven Bulka in his own address, who urged Canadians to “reflect on the notion of a world war,” and asked: “If the world can be at war, is it not possible for the world to be at peace?
“It is not only possible, it is terribly necessary,” he added. “We gather today yearning for a world that is truly at peace. Peace that is highlighted by respect, inclusion, co-operation, helpfulness, kindness and enveloping appreciation.”
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Sophie Trudeau attended Ottawa’s ceremony on behalf of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was attending ceremonies in France, and laid a wreath on behalf of the government.
Also in attendance was Anita Cenerini, who was named by the Royal Canadian Legion as this year’s Silver Cross Mother after her son, Thomas Welsh, died May 8, 2004, three months after returning from his mission in Afghanistan. He was the first Canadian soldier to die by suicide after serving in the war in Afghanistan.
The ceremony in Ottawa was one of many across the country. In Halifax crowds filled the square at Halifax’s Grand Parade. In Montreal, representatives from all of Canada’s armed forces marched to the sound of a beating drum as a military parade marked the start of the Remembrance Day ceremony.