Sunday the 20th of June

...to the ends of the earth


Remembrance Sunday: Every Catholic to do their duty… keep the names of fallen alive

It is our duty to remember the names and keep alive the memory of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, the Bishop of the Forces has said.

Leading tributes to those who fought, were wounded or gave their lives during the war, Bishop Paul Mason urged all Catholics to take time to learn their names and ensure that their sacrifice will be forever appreciated and never forgotten.

“As we commemorate 100 years since the end of The Great War it is a time to reflect and remember the price that was paid for our freedom,” Bishop Mason told The Catholic Universe. “History can so quickly and easily fall over the horizon of living memory and so now more than ever, with no surviving veterans, we have a solemn duty to remember.

“Behind every shocking figure of casualties, there are names. Behind every soldier, seaman or airman was a person. In all cases, there was a tragedy.

“Recalling those names, and even more importantly, uttering those names, is a vital part of keeping their memory alive. With the countless fallen to chisel into the collective memory, it is customary to name but a few who may be representative of the many.

To that end, I have searched through the archive of the Bishopric of the Forces to identify 38 UK chaplains who died in World War One.

“These priests are perhaps all too easily forgotten or perhaps their own sacrifice is not always known or appreciated,” he added.

Picture: Poppies are placed among the thousands of names of soldiers killed or missing in the Great War at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium. (John Giles/PA).