New London vigil for Norman Kember announced
-04/01/06
Pax Christi in the UK has announced that the next London vigil in support of Dr Norman Kember and the three other Christian Peacemaker Teams hostages held in Iraq will take place on Saturday 7th January 2005.
The silent vigil will be between the hours of 3pm and 4pm (local time) at the North side of Trafalgar Square, opposite St-Martin-in-the-Fields Church.
Those of all faiths and none are invited to participate. In recent weeks Christians, Muslims and those who support peace and human rights have come along to express solidarity with the captives and to highlight their plight publicly.
Pax Christi (the international Catholic peace movement), CPT UK, the Baptist Peace Fellowship and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (an association of religious pacifists) are keen to maintain public attention on the four men. They see it as important in strengthening the possibility of their release.
The Saturday vigil will coincide with the Christian Feast of the Epiphany [0] (the day before), when according to the gospels Magi representing earthly power and wisdom came to bring gifts to the infant Jesus, recognising God's choice of the weak and powerless to fulfil the divine purposes of love in a world of might and violence.
In the United States, Christian Peacemaker Teams are marking Epiphany by setting up a vigil outside the White House. They are asking to speak to President Bush about the situation in Iraq.
[Also on Ekklesia: Regular updates on FaithInSociety [1] weblog; Latest: Christian Peacemaker Teams seek meeting with President Bush [2] 04/01/06 (includes complete index of related articles on this site); Speculation continues over kidnapped peace workers in Iraq [3] 04/01/06; Middle East Christians and Muslims renew plea for Iraq captives [4] 01/01/06; Baptists urge support for Norman Kember [5] 31/12/05; Vigils go on for Christian Peacemaker Teams hostages in Iraq [6] 30/12/05. Key book: Patricia Gates-Brown (ed.), Getting in the Way: Stories from Christian Peacemaker Teams [7], Herald Press]
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