Coventry: silent vigil for peace in Syria

Alan Edwards, Coventry’s oldest peace activist, & founder member of the Chapel of Unity at vigil

A silent vigil, for Peace in Syria, took place in Coventry on Saturday afternoon. Organised by Pax Christi members and CAFOD supporters, participants from Coventry, Kenilworth and Stratford were joined by The Bishop of Coventry, Rt Rev Christopher Cocksworth and Councillor Ram Lakha, former Mayor of Coventry. Sitting on the steps of the old Cathedral, the ruins were reflected in the West Window of the new Cathedral with its angels and saints etched into it, reminding us of the tragedy of war and the importance of reconciliation. Behind us, the cross on the altar in the ruins bears the inscription, ‘Father Forgive’. In front of us, on the altar of the new Cathedral, is the Cross of Nails, formed from medieval nails taken from the rubble of the Cathedral ruins on the morning after its destruction in World War 11 when a commitment was made to work for forgiveness and reconciliation.

We were reminded that the war in Syria, with 100,000 deaths in the last two and a half years, is fuelled by the sales of weapons, to both sides, from other countries, including the UK. The hypocrisy of the arms trade has to be ended as part of the path to peace in Syria and elsewhere. Retaliatory bombing will only escalate the crisis, kill more people, add to the two million refugees and increase the desperate humanitarian needs of those left.

Sr Teresa Phelan of the Presentation order said: ‘the Vigil today-it was a special experience of stillness and prayer and I'm sure our presence reached out to Syria and to all men, women and children who are suffering’.

Earlier in the day, Ann Farr, a member of the Board of Pax Christi International and CAFOD Coventry Deanery Co-ordinator, in an interview with BBC Coventry and Warwickshire spoke of her visit to Jordan during which she met Syrian refugee children being cared for in the Caritas school in Amman. Children whose short lives had already been traumatised by the death and destruction they have witnessed and who have little hope of returning to their home country, or what little is left of it.

Ann said that we can all do something towards peace in Syria. As well as our prayer and fasting today and in the weeks to come, we can donate to agencies providing humanitarian aid and work for an end to the arms trade and an end to the arms fairs, like the one being held in London next week, where weapons of torture and death are sold as if at a Farmer’s Market. Fourteen companies involved in the arms trade, with branches in Coventry, will have stalls at the arms fair in London. Ann also called for Coventry Council to show their commitment to being a City of Peace and Reconciliation by ending the investment of any of their pension funds in arms companies.