May 2017

Dear brothers and sisters,

In Prayer and Solidarity with Manchester and its Victims
Although I knew my pastoral duties would have me away from you and our diocese and in Italy today, I am very much with you in heart and spirit as we gather to pray for the victims of the Manchester atrocity of Monday evening.

I knew you would want an opportunity to come together to show our solidarity with the people of the good city of Manchester, and with all of those from these isles and beyond who were caught up in the terrible attack. Our Mass today is a time of reflec-tion, to pray for those young people, their families and loved ones who were killed or maimed, and to implore our Lord that a culture of harmony and respect among peo-ples, and of reconciliation and peace among nations, will prevail.

The young people who were struck down with loved ones were simply out enjoying a long anticipated and special night, experiencing the joy of youth and the sheer excite-ment of growing up in a world full of promise now opening up before them. Like all young people they were the delight of our present and the hope of our future, and it is particularly obscene that this attack sought to strike at this so precious treasure in our culture. Yet the reaction of our nation, coming together in heartfelt friendship and fraternity across communities, has only gone to show how hopeless and defeated the dreadful ideology of terror has now become.

In the end it is the merciful Father of all humankind who is the giver of peace, and it is to Him that we turn in these upsetting times, to make all things new.

I am grateful to Canon Oliver, Rector of our diocesan Cathedral, for representing me today in offering Mass for your intentions on this sad occasion, and for commending our world to a God who is, nonetheless, our sure hope of victory over suffering and of life over death.

With every blessing

John