D-Day: Commemoration,
Sacrifice, Hope
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| Presidents Trump and Macron among veterans at 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy |
As the D-Day landings are commemorated, the Bishop of the British
Armed Forces, Paul Mason speaks to Vatican Radio about remembrance and the
heroism of those who took part in the campaign 75 years ago.
By Lydia O’Kane
Thousands of people including D-Day veterans, and Heads of
State gathered in Normandy in Northern France on Thursday to remember those who
made the ultimate sacrifice in this crucial invasion 75 years ago.
In a speech, President Donald Trump praised the heroism of
American and allied service members while French President Emmanuel Macron
thanked veterans “for our freedom”. “France doesn't forget” your sacrifice, he
said.
Earlier in the day there was a service of remembrance in
Bayeux, the first Normandy town liberated by Allied troops after D-Day.
Pope Francis, in a message read out during the service by
Cardinal Marc Ouellet said, D-Day was "decisive in the fight against Nazi
barbarism" and he paid tribute to those who "gave their lives for
freedom and peace."
It was on 6 June 1944, that Allied forces launched a
combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France.
The campaign was known as Operation 'Overlord' and landings
on the beaches of Normandy saw the beginning of a long operation to liberate parts
of Europe from German occupation.
Commemoration
Speaking about the D-Day commemorations on Wednesday in
Portsmouth and in Normandy on Thursday, the Bishop of the British Armed
Forces, Paul Mason stressed the importance of remembrance.
“The D-Day landings are part of our social and political
history and those who have a living memory of them are soon to pass on and I
think while we have their living memory there is a particular need at the
moment to ensure that we capture that. It honours them that we remember it and
for all of those who died as well, it honours their memory and I think it helps
cement something very important about our own national self-identity and where
we’ve come from and the people who have enabled us to have the life that we have;
we owe them something, so it that sense commemoration is fundamentally
important.”
Heroism and sacrifice
The bishop said much can be learned from the heroism of
those who took part in the campaign, in a world today that has a
tendency to look to the individual and their own fulfillment. “This is a lot of
people who gave everything up for what they believed in.”
The Church and the military
As these troops went to war they were able to draw from the
spiritual guidance of the military chaplains who tended to their faith needs in
the field. In situations such as these, Bishop Mason said, military personnel
“will look for meaning, they will look for hope… and I think the Church needs
to be able speak into that space”.
The good fight
Highlighting the importance of hope in dramatic situations
of conflict, the bishop of the Forces noted that, “there is that sense of hope,
that comes through even in these extreme situations. It’s often from these
sorts of situations that heroic actions come about, that heroes come to the
fore.” He added that, “there is hope in human nature that we are actually
capable of being able to fight for something more than just ourselves;
something we believe in and to lay down a life; our lives for something which
is bigger than ourselves.”
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