How the worship brought about another war - the aftermath of the Falklands War ~ Uma guerra para rezar a missa pela fim da guerra

The war ended 30 years ago (in April 1982). The anniversary has brought back misgivings in the UK and Argentina alike. Here we draw on a book to tell you how other conflicts arose as a worship to mark the UK victory was scheduled just after the war.

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portuguese
A guerra terminou há 30 anos (em abril de 1982). O aniversário trouxe desconforto tanto no Reino Unido quanto na Argentina. Com base em um livro, contamos como outros conflitos vieram à tona enquanto, após a guerra, se tentava planejar uma celebração religiosa para marcar a vitória do Reino Unido.

No texto abaixo, somente os subtítulos são bilíngues.
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Subtitles - bilingual - by the editor of the blog


Margaret Thatcher - fonder of the Church of England than of its members
M Thatcher -mais simpatia para com a Igreja da Inglaterra do que com seus membros

To mark the end of the conflict a thanksgiving service was held at St Paul’s Cathedral at the end of July. This added to the growing sense of irritation with some hallowed British institutions. The FCO and the BBC were already in bad odour and now the Church of England was to join them. It was said of Margaret Thatcher that while with the Foreign Office she disliked the institution but tended to like the individuals within it, her attitude to the Church of England was the opposite.

The conflict after the victory - what? an ecumenical service?
O conflito depois da vitória - o quê? um rito ecumênico?

The problems arose in fact less from the attitudes of the Church towards
the conflict than the Archbishop of Canterbury’s determination to make the
service inter-denominational. This meant securing the direct participation of
Cardinal Hume [Catholic], who was naturally influenced by the Pope’s recent pleas for reconciliation, and Dr Kenneth Greet, Moderator of the Free Church Federal Council, who had recently published adverse comments on the campaign in the Guardian. There was some relief in Government that the Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reform Church turned out to be a ‘robust’ lay person with ‘no pacifist leanings’.

What's in a name
Por trás do nome

The expectation of Ministers was indicated by the initial title: ‘A Service of Thanksgiving for the liberation of the Falkland Islands and in remembrance of the fallen’. The proposals from the Church side moved matters in a different direction. These involved inserting a reference to reconciliation in
the title, including the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish and an excerpt from thePope’s recent address at Coventry. In addition Cardinal Hume argued strongly that the world ‘liberation’ should be removed from the title because of its connotations in Roman Catholic theology, especially in South America.

Most seriously Greet was opposed to the participation of members of the armed forces reading lessons, while even Cardinal Hume was also said to have misgivings, to the point where it might lead to some church leaders staying away.

Ministers were appalled. Nott later summed up their sentiments: No one was more in favour of reconciliation with Argentina than I;
we could all say prayers privately, if we wished, for the dead and maimed of both sides; but this was a service for the veterans of the war and, in particular, the families of the British dead. It almost seemed as if our disagreements on the form of worship were more about the Church of England’s own war against Margaret Thatcher
and her policies than about comforting the families of our dead.

War on the contribution of Army staff in the worship
Guerra sobre a participação de membros do exército na cerimônia religiosa

As delicate negotiations began between the Government and the Dean of St.Paul’s, Nott expressed the view that it would be better to abandon this service and convene instead one under military auspices in Horse Guards Parade. Without going that far, the Prime Minister made known that she
was prepared to go public in Parliament and the press if there was any
attempt to bar members of the armed forces from making a contribution.
At the same time she was wary about giving the service too political a content and readily agreed that with the gathering uncertainties surrounding the event she would be well advised not to participate so directly. Here she might have been influenced by the Dean’s suggestion that she read as a lesson Micah, chapter 4, verses 1–4, which was not exactly ‘Iron Lady’ fare.

Compromising eventually
O acordo, enfim

Eventually sufficient common ground was reached. The service was to be called simply ‘The Falkland Islands Service.’ It was agreed that the final theme, after thanksgiving and remembrance, would be peace and reconciliation,to be led by Greet. His proposed contribution, longer than all others,was cut back, thereby removing references to nations building defences
against poverty, hunger and disease rather than each other, although a reference
to their eradication remained, and a special blessing of the United Nations. One lesson was read by the Chaplain to the Fleet while two junior
members of the Task Force led the congregation from one section of the service to the next with appropriate sentences of scripture.

What representatives from foreign countries should attend?
Dentre a comunidade internacional, quem convidar?

The other difficulty lay in whom to invite once members of the Task Force and their families had been catered for. It had been expected that the representatives of foreign governments would be invited, with the United States, New Zealand and Nepal having a particular claim because of thematerial help they had provided, but the problems of space and diplomacy created problems. Many governments had provided support and it would be invidious to ask only a few, while some exclusions, for example, Ireland would be seen as pointed (especially as Irish citizens had fought with the British forces). In the end it was decided that the occasion would be purely domestic.

The sermon irritated Thatcher even more
O sermão irritou Thatcher ainda mais

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s sermon, which stressed the reconciliation theme, did little to ease the Prime Minister’s irritation with the episode. Even some churchmen were uneasy about expressing thanks
only for the war’s end without addressing the reasons, commensurate with just war theory, why it was fought or giving meaning to the sacrifices.

How to fit the stuck in wheelchairs in the victory parade
Como alocar os de necessidades especiais na parada da vitória

She [Thatcher] found much more satisfactory the victory parade on 12 October when over 1,250 individuals involved in the Task Force marched from Armoury House to Guildhall, with about 30,000 spectators. There was a fly past of helicopters and aircraft. A small pacifist demonstration made little
impact: more upset was caused by an initial reluctance to allow wounded servicemen in their wheelchairs to have a prominent position. The occasion,reminiscent of past military parades through the City of London, was taken to represent a resurgence in the British character. At the Guildhall the Lord Mayor told those from the Task Force that they represented ‘what is best in Britain’. The Prime Minister reflected on the inspirational quality of the events of the past months: 'Doubt and hesitation were replaced by confidence and pride that our generation too could write a glorious chapter in the history of liberty.'

Source:The Official History of the Falklands Campaign,
Volume 2 War and Diplomacy
Lawrence Freedman, Lawrence Freedman, Routledge 2007
pp 670-2