What began two years ago as a small gathering of faith-filled voices has become a powerful annual witness to peace. On Thursday, August 6, 2026, at 6:00 pm CDT, the Franciscan Peace Center and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration will host their third annual Hiroshima Nagasaki Prayer Service via Zoom and open to all.
This year’s theme, “From Remembrance to Abolition,” calls participants to prayerfully honor those killed in the 1945 bombings while renewing their commitment to a world free from nuclear weapons, weapons that, today, number more than 12,000 warheads held by the world’s nuclear-armed states.
The service has grown steadily: 14 co-sponsoring congregations and more than 525 registrants in 2024; 16 co-sponsors and over 1,100 participants in 2025. BVM Sisters are one of 36 communities of Catholic sisters, along with other peace and justice organizations, standing together as co-sponsors, making this year the broadest expression yet of this collective spiritual witness.
“As we remember the suffering of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we pray that world leaders will commit to ending the manufacturing of these weapons of mass destruction,” said Dr. Jennifer Kryszak, Director of Strategic Planning for the Franciscan Peace Center. “This prayer service is both a remembrance and a call to action.”
The event also responds to a call from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) for “100 Days of Prayer, Fasting, and Advocacy” as a collective spiritual witness running from July 26 through November 3, 2026, during which participating congregations each dedicate a day to pray and act for peace and justice. This August 6 gathering is one such communal offering.
Co-sponsoring organizations include:
Congregation of the Humility of Mary; Dominican Sisters of Peace; Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa; Dominican Sisters of Sparkill; Felician Sisters of North America; Franciscan Action Network; Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls; Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart; IHM Sisters; Our Lady of Grace Monastery, Sisters of St. Benedict; Pax Christi Illinois; Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ; Presentation Sisters Union – US Unit; Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, Western American Area; Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary-Eastern American Area; School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic Midwest Province; School Sisters of Notre Dame, Central Pacific Province; Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati; Sisters of Charity of Nazareth; Sisters of Charity of New York; Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team; Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur – Ohio Province; Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (East-West Province); Sisters of Providence; Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia; Sisters of St. Francis of Rochester, Minnesota; Sisters of St. Francis, Dubuque, Iowa; Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet; Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet St. Louis Province; Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia; Sisters of the Holy Family; Sisters of the Humility of Mary; US Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph; Wheaton Franciscans; Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER)
The prayer service will be recorded for those unable to attend live. Register in advance at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_T5ADkQluTGSDZjEO114Bjg
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