Harrisburg — Thirteen organizations are co-sponsoring this event which commemorates the 72nd anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The evening will include music, poetry, presentations and floating of lanterns to remember past victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to provide education about the existing nuclear threat. This event will take place on Sunday, August 6th with prelude music at 6:45 and program at 7 PM in the sanctuary at Market Square Presbyterian Church, 20 S. Second St. Harrisburg PA. Participants will then proceed to the Susquehanna Riverfront where they will float “Candles on the Water” in remembrance of past victims, and as a sign of determination to say “never again”.
On July 7, 2017, the United Nations passed an historic treaty banning the use of nuclear weapons. 122 nations voted to approve the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.
This event is co-sponsored by: Camp Hill Presbyterian Church, Catholic Worker House, Harrisburg Catholic Elementary School, Harrisburg Friends Meeting,Mayor’s Interfaith Advisory Council, Oryoki Zendo, Pax Christi Harrisburg, Peacemaking Committee of Market Square Presbyterian Church, Pennsylvania Council of Churches, Physicians for Social Responsibility-Harrisburg/Hershey, Spiritual Assembly of Bahai’s, Women’s Interfaith Symposium and the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg.
Parking is available in the Market Square Parking garage next to Market Square Presbyterian Church.
The program is free and open to the public.
The first event “Candles on the Water” in Harrisburg was in the 1980’s and was started by Milton Lowenthal and Debbie Davenport. Milton was also instrumental in Harrisburg becoming a member city of Mayors for Peace. On June 24, 1982, at the 2nd UN Special Session on Disarmament held at the UN, then Mayor Takeshi Araki of Hiroshima proposed a new Program to Promote the Solidarity of Cities toward the Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons. This proposal offered cities a way to transcend national borders and work together to press for nuclear abolition. Subsequently, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki called on mayors around the world to support this program. The City of Harrisburg became a member city in February 1983 as one of the first two cities in the United States, along with Honolulu, to show solidarity. As of July 1, 2016, membership stood at 7,095 cities in 161 countries and regions.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/294228997709696/
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