Cardinal joins pleas for Iraq peace workers

Cardinal joins pleas for Iraq peace workers

-12/12/05

The Cardinal Archbishop of Westm

Cardinal joins pleas for Iraq peace workers

-12/12/05

The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, sent a message to a vigil of Christians and Muslims in Londonís Trafalgar Square this evening, praying for the lives of four peace captives in Iraq.

It is now nearly 48 hours since a previously unknown militant group threatened to kill Dr Norman Kember, 74, James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, both Canadians, and an American, Tom Fox, 54.

In a note sent to Pat Gaffney, General Secretary of the Catholic peace movement Pax Christi, Cardinal Cormac Murphy OíConnor said: ìI want to unite my prayers to yours as you remember in your vigil the four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams being held hostage in Iraq.î

He continued: ìI want the families of Norman, Tom, Harmeet and James to know that we are thinking of them, and praying, too, that the hearts of those who hold them be converted to the cause of peace and love. I plead with their captors to have mercy, as God is merciful, and to release them.î

Many thousands of people are joining in vigils across the world tonight, as the silence from the Sword of Righteousness (Truth) Brigades, who kidnapped the men in a mosque in central Baghdad, leads to theories of both hope and despair.

The envoy Anas Altikriti, from the Muslim Association of Britain, who was born in Iraq and travelled there to try to negotiate the hostages’ release, said this morning that the silence meant the hostages were probably alive. He warned, however, that it could be many weeks before the situation became clearer.

Speaking from Jordan, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ìI think that there is the hope that now we have entered what we call a silence period, when the group just basically ceases all communications for a while. It could be for a few days, a few weeks, sometimes in previous cases a few months.î

Concluded Mr Altikriti: ìAt least we know that if they had done any harm to the hostages we would know by now. It is certainly daunting and now we just continue to wait and hope and pray.î

Cardinal joins pleas for Iraq peace workers

-12/12/05

The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, sent a message to a vigil of Christians and Muslims in London’s Trafalgar Square this evening, praying for the lives of four peace captives in Iraq.

In a note sent to Pat Gaffney, General Secretary of the Catholic peace movement Pax Christi, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor said: ‘I want to unite my prayers to yours as you remember in your vigil the four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams being held hostage in Iraq.’

He continued: ‘I want the families of Norman, Tom, Harmeet and James to know that we are thinking of them, and praying, too, that the hearts of those who hold them be converted to the cause of peace and love. I plead with their captors to have mercy, as God is merciful, and to release them.’

Speaking from Jordan, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I think that there is the hope that now we have entered what we call a silence period, when the group just basically ceases all communications for a while. It could be for a few days, a few weeks, sometimes in previous cases a few months.’

Concluded Mr Altikriti: ‘At least we know that if they had done any harm to the hostages we would know by now. It is certainly daunting and now we just continue to wait and hope and pray.’