Peace campaigners

Jo Monk and
Patricia Gilligan

write of their experience on the Taize style Evening Prayer and Vigil for Peace in Iraq and the Middle East, which they had attended at Salford Cathedral.

Organised by:
Faith and Justice Commission.

Jo, who is a regular worshipper at St Andrew’s, Dearnley said, “This was a very moving event. Both the singing and the silence were powerful reminders that we must continue to work and pray for peace.

Kneeling in a very full church, I was particularly inspired by the idea of peace being like a cathedral. We heard that ‘Like a cathedral, peace has to be constructed, patiently and with unshakeable faith’ and that ‘Wherever the strong exploit the weak; wherever the rich take advantage of the poor; wherever great powers seek to dominate and to impose ideologies, there the work of making peace is undone; there the cathedral of peace is again destroyed’.

Patricia, who worships at St Mary’s, Littleborough, had also found the service an inspiration. She said, “I have been greatly strengthened in my resolve to campaign for peace, by the very clear stand taken by church leaders in opposing the illegal invasion of Iraq. I agree with the view of the Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano, which has described this war as ‘murder on a grand scale; useless, unjust and intrinsically stupid.’

I welcomed Pope John Paul II’s efforts to halt President Bush’s rush to war, and I join him in feeling that ‘authentic religion preaches neither terrorism nor violence, but rather seeks to promote peace and the unity of the entire human family.’”