Livingstone and Waite back bishops over London bombings memorial
-07/09/05
Terry Waite who was held hostage by Islamic extremists for four years, and London mayor Ken Livingstone have joined Bishops in calling for relatives of the London bombers to be invited to a memorial service.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury’s envoy suggested that close relatives of the four suicide bombers should sit alongside the families of the 52 victims at the special service in St Paul’s Cathedral.
His comments were echoed yesterday by Ken Livingstone who said that it would be “offensive” if relatives of the bombers were turned away from the service.
Mr Waite, who was held hostage in Beirut from 1987 to 1991, said in an interview on BBC Radio 2: “The parents definitely should be involved in the service because in a different way they are victims themselves.”
He said that it was both “Christian and courteous” to invite the families to the commemorative service, which is due to be attended by members of the Royal Family, senior politicians and leaders from different faiths. He added: “I firmly believe the parents of the children who commit crimes of an abhorrent nature such as murder need understanding.”
Two senior Church of England bishops believe that extending the invitation to the bombersí families would acknowledge their own loss and send a powerful message of reconciliation to the Muslim community. ìIt will acknowledge the wickedness of the act and the grief and devastation it has caused,î said Martin Wharton, the Bishop of Newcastle. ìI believe this has to be an inclusive invitation.î
The Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Rev Jack Nicholls, said he would like the bombers’ families to attend, but only with the approval of the bereaved and injured.
“The families should be consulted. If such a suggestion were to bring more anger between communities it would not be a risk worth taking,” he said.
ìWe have to look forward, not back, forward to a society in which Muslims and Christians live together amicably in an integrated community.”
But the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and St Paul’s Cathedral, which is responsible for the event, said they had decided against such a move. A spokesman for the cathedral said: “Although neither of us attaches any blame to the families of the London bombers, our first responsibility is to the families of the victims.”
The Church however has not infrequently found itself at odds with government and others over its inclusive and reconciliatory message, which many find hard to understand.
It the early 1980s the Church found itself in trouble with the Thatcher government when it wanted to remember the Argentine dead as well as British soldiers who had died during the Falklands conflict.
A senior Church of England figure was also said to have intervened to prevent a service of remembrance for the Iraq war at St Paul’s Cathedral being billed as a thanksgiving for victory.
Brian Coleman, the Tory deputy chairman of the London Assembly, labelled the idea of bombers’ families attending the latest memorial service as “political correctness gone mad”.
The service of commemoration is to be held at St Paulís Cathedral on November 1.
Livingstone and Waite back bishops over London bombings memorial
-07/09/05
Terry Waite who was held hostage by Islamic extremists for four years, and London mayor Ken Livingstone have joined Bishops in calling for relatives of the London bombers to be invited to a memorial service.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury’s envoy suggested that close relatives of the four suicide bombers should sit alongside the families of the 52 victims at the special service in St Paul’s Cathedral.
His comments were echoed yesterday by Ken Livingstone who said that it would be “offensive” if relatives of the bombers were turned away from the service.
Mr Waite, who was held hostage in Beirut from 1987 to 1991, said in an interview on BBC Radio 2: “The parents definitely should be involved in the service because in a different way they are victims themselves.”
He said that it was both “Christian and courteous” to invite the families to the commemorative service, which is due to be attended by members of the Royal Family, senior politicians and leaders from different faiths. He added: “I firmly believe the parents of the children who commit crimes of an abhorrent nature such as murder need understanding.”
Two senior Church of England bishops believe that extending the invitation to the bombers’ families would acknowledge their own loss and send a powerful message of reconciliation to the Muslim community. ‘It will acknowledge the wickedness of the act and the grief and devastation it has caused,’ said Martin Wharton, the Bishop of Newcastle. ‘I believe this has to be an inclusive invitation.’
The Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Rev Jack Nicholls, said he would like the bombers’ families to attend, but only with the approval of the bereaved and injured.
“The families should be consulted. If such a suggestion were to bring more anger between communities it would not be a risk worth taking,” he said.
‘We have to look forward, not back, forward to a society in which Muslims and Christians live together amicably in an integrated community.”
But the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and St Paul’s Cathedral, which is responsible for the event, said they had decided against such a move. A spokesman for the cathedral said: “Although neither of us attaches any blame to the families of the London bombers, our first responsibility is to the families of the victims.”
The Church however has not infrequently found itself at odds with government and others over its inclusive and reconciliatory message, which many find hard to understand.
It the early 1980s the Church found itself in trouble with the Thatcher government when it wanted to remember the Argentine dead as well as British soldiers who had died during the Falklands conflict.
A senior Church of England figure was also said to have intervened to prevent a service of remembrance for the Iraq war at St Paul’s Cathedral being billed as a thanksgiving for victory.
Brian Coleman, the Tory deputy chairman of the London Assembly, labelled the idea of bombers’ families attending the latest memorial service as “political correctness gone mad”.
The service of commemoration is to be held at St Paul’s Cathedral on November 1.