New Holocaust Memorial Day prayer
A prayer, created by Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith leaders, has been created for Holocaust Memorial Day 2020
Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith leaders have created a prayer for the seventy-fifth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The prayer for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2020 echoes its theme of ‘Stand Together’, which encourages communities to unite to prevent the spread of hate and division.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chief Rabbi and the Senior Imam at the Makkah Mosque launched the prayer, which is intended to be used by people of any faith gathering to mark the day on 27 January.
Imam Qari Asim, Senior Imam at the Makkah Mosque in Leeds, said: ‘Our society is becoming increasingly polarised and respect for difference appears to be declining. It is therefore critically important that Holocaust Memorial Day is marked by all and lessons are learnt so that compassion can prevail over hatred, and respect over intolerance in our society.’
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis described the prayer as ‘a sincere call to each of us to bring a little more light into the world’.
Friends said that the prayer echoes Saint Francis’s words quoted by Paul Parker, recording clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting for last year’s HMD: ‘Where there is hatred, we must sow the seeds of love, reconciliation and peace.’
The prayer has been developed in partnership with HMD Trust.
