I wrote two very sad letters this week – one to the Primates and Provincial Secretaries of the Anglican Communion suggesting that they request prayers in churches in their dioceses for those who died in the attack on a church in Peshawar in Pakistan last Sunday; today I wrote a letter to Archbishop Wabukala after the tragic deaths at the Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi.
Two awful tragedies – unnecessary man-made suffering and death for no apparent reason. Speaking on the radio this morning in the UK about the attack on the Church in Pakistan, Bishop Tom Butler said “While some Christians are called to lay down their lives for their faith, it takes a fanatic to kill others for their faith.” And so it is. Murder in the name of religion is especially tragic. Whether Christian or Muslim, faith seeks a world of peace, harmony and goodwill to all. It takes only a few fanatics to undo the painstaking work by people of faith in building a peaceful society.
Yet the church will be there in the midst of tragedy. Clergy will today be conducting funerals, and visiting the injured in hospital. Local church communities are gathering around the bereaved and fearful, praying, comforting, and offering hope in the midst of darkness.
I wrote two sad letters this week – I could have written more because there were more deaths and tragedies in other places. Yet our faith speaks of resurrection in the face of death, of hope in the face of despair. God is making all things new, and working to bring all things to good, despite the fruitless efforts of dangerous fanatics.
Canon Kearon of the Church of Ireland is Secretary General of the Anglican Communion