For peacemakers around the globe, the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a call to recommit ourselves to advocate for a world free of the threat and tyranny of nuclear weapons. On this solemn anniversary, Pax Christi USA pledges to raise awareness of the imminent threat of nuclear weapons in our world today and offer resources for prayer, study and action to support efforts toward the abolition of nuclear war. Below, you will find several ways to join us in commemorating the anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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The Peace Ribbon 2020

The Peace Ribbon 2020 is a project that aims to spur the imagination of all that would be lost if we succumb again to the use of a nuclear weapon. Participants stand with the hibakusha whose very presence is a witness to the road we must never again take. We honor them and the memory of all who lost their lives 75 years ago and in the aftermath whenever we raise our voices to say “No! Never again!”
Pax Christi USA undertakes this project as our contribution to the ongoing effort begun by Justine Merritt and carried forth by The Ribbon International, a nongovernmental organization at the UN that seeks to keep alive Justine’s vision to protect life and achieve a world without nuclear weapons.
The project encourages participants to make a ribbon panel — either by cloth or on poster board — sewing, painting, drawing or writing to capture “what I cannot bear to think of as lost forever in a nuclear war.” Panels then can be displayed in our windows, on porch railings, at our community centers or places of worship as a way of commemorating this 75th anniversary and pledging to work for a world that will never know such destruction again.
- Click here to find more resources on a special website we have set up for this project and to find our more information.
- Click here for a PSA for the Peace Ribbon project.
- Click here to watch the video of the Zoom event marking the 75th anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, “The Peace Ribbon Vision Continues”.
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The Back from the Brink Campaign

Get your local government (state, city, town or county) to adopt publicly a Back from the Brink: The Call to Prevent Nuclear War resolution.
Can you imagine the United States abolishing nuclear weapons? This campaign is a next step toward making this a reality. This is an invitation to PCUSA regions, local groups, and members to participate in a one-year campaign to call on your local legislatures to pass the Back from the Brink anti-nuclear resolution (www.preventnuclearwar.org). We can do it together and PCUSA will post progress as individual groups report on their goal and actions.
Click here for more information on this campaign.
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Share this graphic with a quote from Pope Francis designed by our new communications coordinator Roxana Bendezu on your social media platforms between August 6-9.

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PRAYER
STUDY
- Read the stories of the hibakusha
- Read the joint statement we issued with nearly 200 other NGOs
- Watch this video and understand the real costs of nuclear weapons (from Pax Christi International)
- Read this two-page issue brief and watch this video on abolishing nuclear weapons and investing in peace from the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
- Watch this video of Jesuit Fr. Pedro Arrupe’s Hiroshima Diary
ACTION
- Take this pledge to honor, remember and join the hibakusha in working for the abolition of nuclear weapons
- Call on your senator to support the Sen. Markey’s PLANET Act aimed at preventing the resumption of nuclear tests by denying the government the funding to undertake them
- Endorse the civil society appeal in support of the PLANET Act
- Join the 75th Anniversary Hiroshima Day One-Hour Online Commemoration on August 6, 8pm EDT, hosted by the New Mexico 75th Anniversary of Hiroshima/Nagasaki Committee and Pace e Bene