Westminster Abbey Service Celebrates 60th Anniversary of the End of WWII

Great Britain celebrated a day of commemoration yesterday to mark the 1945 victory of World War II under the shadow of Thursday’s terrorist attack in London. A thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey was held according to the Christian tradition of the country, which was addressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.

Many members of the Royal Family, Prime Minister Tony Blair and other senior politicians, military chiefs, representatives of other faiths and nearly 2,000 veterans and their partners attended the service.

The joyful day that once represented the victory of Britain over Nazism, one of the greatest threats in the world’s history, may be saddened by the deaths, injuries and missing people resulting from the explosions in London last week. However, from past to the present, it is evident that the strong courageous spirit of Britain has not changed.

Queen Elisabeth II made a connection between WWII and the threat of terrorism today in her speech, paying tribute to the veterans.

She said, "It does not surprise me that during the present difficult days for London, people took to the example set by those of resilience, humour and sustained courage, often under conditions of great deprivation."

Archbishop Rowan Williams also said in his sermon, "Today of all days, we need no reminder that the spirit of murder and humiliation is still abroad."

He echoed the words of the Queen, "...the sight of a devastated, bombed London will bring back harsh memories; memories not only of physical damage but of the sense of obligation to go on resisting the venomous tyranny responsible for it."

He continued, "People have resisted, lies have been exposed; in all sorts of different ways, men and women have risked and surrendered their lives so that the truth might have witnesses."

Even though the physical war many have ended, today in Britain, there are wars people still have to fight. The Archbishop stated, "More perhaps than any war for centuries, the conflict that ended sixty years ago had for us in Britain the clear character of a moral struggle. It had been very hard to preserve any such conviction through the weary years of the First World War; but there was in the last war some sense of fighting for more than the security of one country."

"It took the war to prompt the international community to take all those dramatically significant steps towards a world of recognised rights and liberties represented by the United Nations and its agencies," he continued.

"That passion will have been rekindled in recent days. In that sense, this service is a fitting response to the terror of the last week and a true complement to all that has been going on recently around the G8 meeting to witness to human dignity."

He concluded the sermon by giving blessings to the present generation so that they can uphold the truth in this era, "We pay tribute today to a generation who found the courage to witness, soldiers, civilians, martyrs together; may God help us in this generation and in the future to hold up the same light with the same faithfulness against the same powers of darkness - living stones, living signs of blessing."