wfn.org | JUBILEE PARTICIPANTS PAUSE TO REMEMBER ATOMIC BLASTS

[PCUSA_NEWS@ecunet.org]

28-Aug-95

95292  JUBILEE PARTICIPANTS PAUSE TO REMEMBER ATOMIC BLASTS 
 
                      by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.--Presbyterian Peacemaking Jubilee participants paused from 
the rigors of speeches and workshops Aug. 13 to pray and observe a moment 
of silence in remembrance of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 
50 years ago. 
 
     Following the evening plenary, which featured a moving testimony to 
the power of nonviolence by Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire of 
Northern Ireland, the 1,600 Jubilee participants filed silently out of the 
Hofstra University gymnasium into a large open field.   
 
     There, candles in hand, they listened to Presbyterian pastor the Rev. 
Kyoji Buma, who was born in Japan, reflect on the devastating effects of 
the bombings on Japanese and Americans alike and offer a prayer for healing 
and reconciliation. 
 
     Then, as a single bell monotonously tolled 50 times -- once for each 
year since the dropping of the bombs -- the vast circle of Presbyterian 
peacemakers quietly lit their candles and stood silently. 
 
 

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