In 1995, to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. bronze casts of the 'Reconciliation' sculpture
were placed in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral and in the Hiroshima Peace Park in Japan
As Coventry marks the 80th Anniversary of the Bombing of the City and the Destruction of its Cathedral during the night of 14th November 1940, Bishops welcome the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and call on the UK Government sign up to a new day of Peace.
Over 30 bishops, including the Bishop of Coventry and the Bishop of Warwick, signed the following letter that was published in the Observer newspaper today:
‘As bishops of the Church of England, we warmly welcome and applaud the recent ratification, by the required number of member states, of the United Nations’ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and we rejoice that the Treaty will therefore come into force on January 22, 2021.
For so many of the nations of the world to speak clearly of the need to ban these weapons of mass destruction is an encouraging and hopeful sign. We commit ourselves to pray and to work so that this ratification will indeed help to see an end to nuclear weapons in the future.
We very much regret that the UK, together with other nuclear states, has not yet signed the accord. We call on the UK Government to do so, and thereby to give hope to all people of goodwill who seek a peaceful future.
We echo the UN Secretary-General who “commends the States that have ratified the Treaty and salutes the work of civil society, which has been instrumental in facilitating the negotiation and ratification of the Treaty.”
Accordingly, we renew our support for the work of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, together with sister organisations and agencies in each nation, whose advocacy and commitment continues to make such a difference.’
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
Steven Cottrell, Archbishop of York
Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool
Christopher Cocksworth, Bishop of Coventry
John Stroyan, Bishop of Warwick
Richard Atkinson, Bishop of Bedford
Jo Bailey Wells, Bishop of Dorking
Pete Broadbent, Bishop of Willesden
Sarah Bullock, Bishop of Shrewsbury
Jonathan Clark, Bishop of Croydon
David Court, Bishop of Grimsby
Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Loughborough
Jonathan Goodall, Bishop of Ebbsfleet
Martin Gorick, Bishop of Dudley
Olivia Graham, Bishop of Reading
Clive Gregory, Bishop of Wolverhampton
Joanne Grenfell, Bishop of Stepney
David Hamid, Suffragan Bishop in Europe
Peter Hill, Bishop of Barking
Anne Hollinghurst, Bishop of Aston
John Inge, Bishop of Worcester
Roger Morris, Bishop of Colchester
Philip North, Bishop of Burnley
John Perumbalath, Bishop of Bradwell
Lee Rayfield, Bishop of Swindon
Tony Robinson, Bishop of Wakefield
Alan Smith, Bishop of St Albans
John Thomson, Bishop of Selby
Graham Tomlin, Bishop of Kensington
Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester
David Walker, Bishop of Manchester
Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield