Lanterns for Peace” reflections remember victims of atomic bombings

Lanterns for Peace” reflections remember victims of atomic bombings

msc

Fri, 08/07/2026 - 15:45

Each year, the Lanterns for Peace global campaign, on 6 and 9 August, remembers the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The commemoration is not only a moment of mourning, but a genuine call to conscience.

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One of the 22 lanterns sent from the city of Hiroshima to Geneva.

Photo: Marianne Ejdersten/WCC

In Geneva, an interfaith Lanterns for Peace ceremony was held 6 August at Chapelle Notre-Dame, organized by Pax Christi in Switzerland and the Interreligious Platform in Geneva.

The Lanterns for Peace campaign was developed by Pax Christi International and the Hiroshima Coventry Club (Touro Project).

Inspired by the lantern ceremonies held each year in Hiroshima, the campaign invites communities around the world to organise local commemorative events using traditional lanterns as symbols of remembrance, peace, hope, and nuclear disarmament.

Beacons of hope

“ The Lanterns for Peace floated each 6 August on the river in Hiroshima are individual beacons of compassion and hope, ” said…