London: Blessed Franz Jagerstatter Vigil, Nagasaki Day Peace Walk

An ecumenical service, organised by Pax Christi, will take place this evening in the Crypt Chapel of Westminster Cathedral, to mark the 73rd anniversary of Blessed Franz Jagerstatter's execution in 1943 for refusing to serve in Hitler's army. Franz Jagerstatter was beatified in October 2007.

The day also marks the anniversary of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. At least 74,000 people died on this day in 1945. Three days earlier, some 140,000 had been killed in the world's first nuclear attack on Hiroshima. Many thousands more were to die later from radiation sickness.

The service will be followed at 7.30pm by the Peace Walk from Westminster Cathedral to the London Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park where there will be reflections and interfaith prayers. At sunset the Floating Lantern Ceremony will take place on the River Thames, led by the Rev Gyoro Nagase from the Nipponzan Myhoji Buddhist Order based in Battersea Park.