At Westminster Abbey’s VE Day 80th anniversary service, the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell honoured the sacrifice of those who secured victory and called for a renewed commitment to peace, unity, and the common good. The service was attended by Their Majesties The King and The Queen and other members of the Royal Family.
Drawing on his personal family memories of wartime Britain, Archbishop Stephen Cottrell shared that VE Day was more than a military victory—it was a moral triumph rooted in the defence of human dignity, freedom, and shared values. “We knew that some evils must not prevail,” he said. “There is sometimes such evil in the world that, as a last resort, it has to be opposed by force.”
He also reflected on the post-war legacy, praising the founding of the National Health Service and the United Nations as powerful expressions of the ideals for which the war was fought. “Those first outpourings of joy led to something good,” he said. “Because in our opposition of what was worst in us, we discovered what was best.”
Archbishop Stephen acknowledged the ongoing threats to peace and the rise of division in today’s world and spoke of the importance of becoming peacemakers, echoing Jesus’s words: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
“Our world must follow him again,” he concluded. “seeking that kingdom ‘whose ways are gentleness…whose paths are peace.’”
On departure, Her Majesty The Queen, Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales, and other Members of the Royal Family, laid flowers at the Innocent Victims’ Memorial at the West Front of the Abbey.
To read the sermon in full: https://www.archbishopofyork.org/speaking-and-writing/sermons/80th-anniversary-victory-europe-day-westminster-abbey
For more information and order of service visit: The King and Queen lead the nation in marking VE Day 80th anniversary | Westminster Abbey
