A candlelight vigil or candlelit vigil or candlelight service is an outdoor assembly of people carrying candles, held after sunset in order to pray, show support for a specific cause, or remember the dead, in which case, the event is often called a candlelight memorial.[1] Such events may be held to protest the suffering of some marginalized group of people. A large candlelight vigil may have invited speakers with a public address system and may be covered by local or national media. Speakers give their speech at the beginning of the vigil to explain why they are holding a vigil and what it represents.[2] Vigils may also have a religious purpose that contains prayer and fasting.[1] On Christmas Eve many churches hold a candlelight vigil.
Candlelight vigils are seen as a nonviolent way to raise awareness of a cause and to motivate change, as well as uniting and supporting those attending the vigil.[3]
Candlelight vigils in South Korea
editThe examples and perspective in this section deal primarily with South Korea and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (September 2019) |
In South Korea, the Candlelight vigils,[4] or Candlelight protests[5] is a symbolic collective gathering of political dissent in South Korea to combat injustice peacefully.[6] This method of protesting began in 2002 as a result of the Yangju highway incident,[7] was utilized in the rallies against the impeachment of Roh Moo-hyun in 2004, re-used again in the 2008 U.S. beef protests, and emerged in the 2016-18 President Park Geun-hye protests.[8]
Virtual candlelight vigils
editIn the multiplayer video game EVE Online, players hold "Cyno Vigils" in remembrance of players who have died.[9]
Gallery
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A pastor leads prayer in the Czech Brethren Church of John Amos Comenius for the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial (2001) -
2010 National Police Week 22nd annual candlelight vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial at Judiciary Square, Washington, D.C. -
Candlelight vigil at the Katyń Memorial Cross at the Church of St. Giles, Kraków following the Smolensk air disaster -
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Candlelight service at Andrews Memorial Chapel at Westminster School (Connecticut) -
Every year from 1990 to 2019, people attend candlelight vigils on June 4 in Victoria Park, Hong Kong commemorating the victims of 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. It could no longer be held. -
A candlelight vigil in Lourdes, France.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Shields, Bruce E.; Butzu, David Alan (2007). Generations of Praise: The History of Worship. College Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-89900-941-4.
- ^ "Do Something: how to organise a vigil". Retrieved 28 December 2012.
- ^ "love to know: Organise a candlelight vigil". Retrieved 28 December 2012.
- ^ Cho, Elliot (13 December 2016). "South Korea's 'Candlelight Revolution' Matters". Huffington Post. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^ Kim, Yong-cheol; Kim, June-woo (2009). "South Korean Democracy in the Digital Age: The Candlelight Protests and the Internet". 40 (1): 53–85. ProQuest 209355027.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Premack, Rachel (2 December 2016). "Koreans Have Mastered the Art of the Protest". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ Shinn, Henry (4 April 2010). "Deja vu? Candlelight vigils in 2002 and present". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^ "South Korea: thousands of protesters call for president to resign". The Guardian. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^ "An EVE Online Funeral Means Ozone-Light Vigils And Spaceship Sacrifices". Kotaku. 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
External links
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