LONDON, JULY 10, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The bombings in London have provided faith leaders the opportunity to promote a message of unity, not division.
Religious leaders in the United Kingdom expressed this sentiment is a rare joint statement condemning Thursday’s «evil terrorist» attacks.
Leaders from the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths each read out parts of the statement in a press conference, reported the BBC.
«It is an evil that cannot be justified and that we utterly condemn and reject,» said Zaki Badawi, of the Council of Mosques and Imams.
Meanwhile, the president of the U.S. bishops’ conference underlined the divisiveness of the attacks in a letter of condolence sent Thursday to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, president of the bishops’ conference of England and Wales.
The attack «seeks to divide nation against nation» said Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane. He noted that the bombings came after London won the bid for the 2012 Olympics, an event that symbolizes «international solidarity and good will.»
In London, at an interfaith memorial service at St. Pancras Parish Church, close to King’s Cross where at least 21 people died, and the Tavistock Square bus bomb, Father Paul Hawkins said: «This will only make us more determined to live in peace and respect each other.»
At a service at St. Martin in the Fields, Anglican Bishop Richard Chartres of London said the presence of Christians, Muslims, Jews and Sikhs at the service was «a sign of our unity in mourning and our resolve not to be set against one another.»
