Remember reconciliation and hold on to hope, Welby urges

THE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury has called on people to honour the sacrifice of the 1945 generation by remembering reconciliation and holding on to hope.

In an anniversary address, Justin Welby reflected on “the years of courage and sacrifice” between a National Prayer Day in May 1940, when the outlook looked bleak, and the end of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945.

The Archbishop, in a video message filmed in lockdown, described reconciliation and hope as the “two great tributes we can pay to the 1945 generation”, and spoke of the country being united against the threat of coronavirus.

“Nelson Mandela said that we should make our decisions out of our hopes, not our fears,” he said. “Today we can honour the sacrifice that gave us victory in 1945 by deciding for reconciliation to deepen and widen, and by embracing hope to flow like a river carrying us to a brighter future.”

Archbishop Welby spoke of the way the UK had developed its friendship with its wartime foes over the years.

“We have loved our former enemies by seeking their good, yet the horror of war persists,” he said.

“To establish forgiveness and reconciliation is a salute to those who by their hope-filled service made our today possible.”

At York Minster, an online anniversary service will feature two Army chaplains from the region, as well as music from the Minster choir.

The Canon Precentor, Victoria Johnson, said she hoped the service would “provide people with a spiritual space to commemorate the bravery and sacrifice of the wartime generation”.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will take part in an anniversary service from Ripon Cathedral, to be broadcast on YouTube at 11am, beginning with two minutes of silence.