100,000 – Not an Abstract Figure

‘One hundred thousand isn’t just an abstract figure. Each number is a person: someone we loved and someone who loved us.’ Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are urging Britons to join in a daily ‘prayer for the nation ‘following the ‘terrible milestone’ of more than 100,000 Covid-19 deaths.

The archbishops’ message came as the Government’s figure for coronavirus deaths passed 100,000 – although separate data published by statistics agencies puts the toll at 115,000.

In an open letter to the country, the Most Rev Justin Welby and the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell invited people to ‘reflect on the enormity of this pandemic‘.

They called on people of faith and no faith to join in a daily prayer at 6pm every day from February 1.

To mark this milestone the Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Revd Nick Baines and the three cathedrals of Bradford, Wakefield and Ripon have shared this:

Find out more about how the church and our cathedrals are dealing with the COVID19 pandemic here.