Marking the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe meant to be thankful for victory-in-Europe, as well as for the reconciliation-in-Europe that followed, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has said in a sermon preached at the Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey on Sunday.

The day was a time to express gratitude for victory over “the greatest darkness of the twentieth century, perhaps of all history,” he said.

Quoting former prime minister Winston Churchill, the Archbishop said that who had perished in the years to victory-in-Europe had not given their lives in vain. “How gratefully we remember today those who gave everything in those years.”

Gratitude was also for the reconciliation-in-Europe that followed, “neither obviously nor automatically”. Peace was more than the end of war, requiring a process of reconciliation that “dismantles the hostilities which previously separated and alienated us from one another and from God,” said Archbishop Welby.

Such a course was set by the Provost of Coventry Cathedral, the Very Reverend Richard Howard, after the bombing of the cathedral in November 1940. "With Christ born again in our hearts today, we are trying... to banish all thoughts of revenge... to make... a more Christ-child-like sort of world," he said in a Christmas Day sermon that year. 

This ongoing project of reconciliation was a gift to today’s world marked by conflict and extremism that destroy hope and life aspirations, and both the prophet Isaiah and Paul gave inspiration for efforts to continue to build a more Christ-child-like world of peace and hope, said Archbishop Welby.

In the struggle for reconciliation, to repair the breach and restore paths of peace and justice, nothing could separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. “Firmly held by his love we will overcome all fear, prevail over all discouragement, live our vocation to be still a nation of inspiration and generosity, of reconciliation, of blessing to our world,” he said.

The service was attended by veterans and their families, representatives of Allied nations and Commonwealth countries who fought alongside Britain in the conflict, and senior government and military representatives.

Read the full text of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Sermon at VE Day Thanksgiving Service.

Listen to the sermon on audioBoom.