Cardinal Cormac Murphy -O’Connor has joined with senior religious leaders to issue a joint statement following Thursday’s terrorist attacks in London. The statement was release yesterday.
The leaders are the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, the Free Churches Moderator, Dr David Coffey, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Sir Jonathan Sacks, and the Chair of the Council of Mosques & Imams, Sheikh Dr Zaki Badawi.
The full statement is below. The signatories expressed the hope that other faith leaders and communities would feel free to associate themselves with the joint statement.
As religious leaders from several different faiths we came together this morning to pay tribute to the courage, commitment and sacrifice by which the evil of Nazism was resisted and ultimately overcome sixty years ago.
We stand together now for a further purpose: to express our shared commitment to resisting and overcoming the evil of terrorism, which the events of recent days here in London have brought home to us afresh and with such devastating clarity. It is an evil that cannot be justified and that we utterly condemn and reject.
Our hearts go out to those who grieve, those who mourn, and those who wait. We pray for them and with them. We remember the dead, the injured and the missing, as well as all those working to save life and restore health.
We want to signal the common ground on which we stand as faith leaders, and to reaffirm the values we uphold at this time of sorrow and pain. It is vital, when many will be feeling anger, bewilderment and loss, to strengthen those things we hold in common and to resist all that seeks to drive us apart. Central to what we share as people of faith is a belief in God’s compassionate love for us. It is a love that compels us to cherish not to disfigure our common humanity.
We commend and embrace the continuing efforts to build a Britain in which different communities-including faith communities-can flourish side by side on the basis of mutual respect and understanding. We pledge ourselves to remain true to this goal in word and deed and to work together to make of it an enduring reality. As we do so, we draw hope and comfort from the certainty that in seeking to overcome our own brokenness we will be working with the pattern of God’s design for all his children and for the whole human family.
Masses to be offered for all the victims of today’s attacks in London to which everyone is welcome:
Westminster Cathedral, Victoria Street, London
Thursday 7th July, 5:30pm
Mass will be offered up for all those affected by the attacks today
The Cathedral will be open all day as usual for prayer and reflection until 7:00pm
St. Georges’s Cathedral, Southwark
Thursday 7th July, 12.30pm Mass
Prayers were said today for the dead, the injured and for their families.
Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool
Today at 7.30 pm
Archbishop Patrick Kelly: ‘To give an opportunity for prayer and reflection I will be celebrating Mass this evening at Liverpool, at which all will be welcome.’
Bishop Pat O’Donoghue has asked all parishes in the Lancaster Diocese for special prayers for all the “innocent people in London” at all Sunday Masses
Clifton Cathedral, Pembroke Road, Bristol
Friday 8 July 7.30 am and 12 noon
Mass with special prayers will be offered for those affected by the London attacks
11.00 am on Sunday 10 July
Requiem Mass celebrated by Bishop Declan Lang
All are welcome to the Masses. The Cathedral, as always, remains open to all for prayer.
St Joseph’s, Weston-super-Mare
Rosary prayers lead by Deacon Tom Moffatt at St Joseph’s Church, Camp Road, Weston-super-Mare at 5.15 pm on Thursday 7 July.
Sacred Heart Church, High Street, Chew Magna, Somerset
Saturday 9 July at 6.00 pm
Requiem Mass to be celebrated by Father Richard Sullivan SDS
St Mary’s Church, West Harptree, Somerset
Sunday 10 July at 9.00 am.
Requiem Mass celebrated by Father Richard Sullivan SDS
English Martyrs, Tuffley Lane, Gloucester
Thursday 7 July, 12:00pm
Mass was offered for those who have been affected by the attacks in London and those responsible for carrying out these attacks.
During the Mass, Father Keith spoke of the need for us all to look for God in the midst of such terror and to pray for the peace that Christ came to bring to the world.
The Blessed Sacrament was exposed in the church until 6.00 pm and people came to the open church to pray throughout this time.
Saturday 9 July at 6.00 pm
Special Mass will be celebrated by Father Keith Miles
St Teresa’s, Gloucester Road North, Filton, Bristol
Friday 8 July at 7.00 pm
Requiem Mass celebrated by Father Tom Finnegan
Saturday 9 July 6.00 pm and 8.15 pm and Sunday 10 July 10.00 am
Special prayers will be offered at Mass
St Gerard Majella, Knowle, Bristol
Mass offered for the dead and injured at St Gerard Majella Church, Talbot
Road, Knowle, Bristol at 10.00 am on Friday 8 July, 10.30 am on Saturday 9
July and 9.00 am 5.00 pm on Sunday 10 July the 9.00 am. All are invited to
pray in the Church.
St Dunstan, Somerton, Somerset
Special prayers for the victims at St Dunstan’s Church, Langport Road,
Somerton, Somerset at 9.00 am on Friday 8 July.
St Joseph, The Hill, Langport, Somerset
10.30 am on Sunday 10 July
Mass offered for the Victims.
Prinknash Abbey, Cranham, Gloucester, GL48EX.
The Community Conventual Mass this morning was the Mass offered ‘in time of war and civil disturbance’.
It was offered for the victims of the terrorist bomb attacks in London yesterday and for their bereaved families and friends.
Meanwhile the churches are open from dawn to dusk and the Paschal Candle will be lit during this time.
