Archdiocese Of Chicago Commemorates The 150th Anniversary Of The Civil War Surrender At Appomattox

CHICAGO, April 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, April 9, our nation marks the 150^th anniversary of the surrender ceremony at the Appomattox Court House, which has come to symbolize the beginning of the reconciliation of a nation torn apart by civil war. The Archdiocese of Chicago has joined with the five other dioceses across Illinois to commemorate this event by ringing bells at parishes, schools and religious houses on Thursday at 2:15 p.m. CDT for four minutes. This time coincides with the hour of the ceremony at Appomattox, leading to the end of the four-year Civil War and to the end of slavery in the United States, which came in later that year with the ratification of the 13^th amendment in December. 

"With a sense of respect for those who have labored these many years to act on President Lincoln's vision and with a profound sense of hope for the future, we, the Catholic Bishops of Illinois, call on our parishes, schools and religious houses to ring their bells in commemoration," said Chicago Archbishop Blase J. Cupich. "We also invite all citizens to pause at the ringing of the bells and say a prayer for our nation."

Archbishop Cupich added, "We all can benefit from the words with which President Lincoln concluded his second inaugural address just weeks before the war ended."

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish, a just and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

For more information, visit www.archchicago.org.

CONTACT:
Susan Burritt, Media Relations Director, 312-534-8233, [email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150407/197194LOGO

SOURCE Archdiocese of Chicago