Violence condemned in Day of Prayer

CATHOLIC Church Leaders of Ireland, England and Wales and Scotland have issued a joint call for a Day of Special Prayer for Northern Ireland on March 17, St Patrick's Day.
Cardinal 0 Fiaich, Cardinal Hume and Archbishop Winning issued a statement describing Northern Ireland with its sectarian violence as a "reproach to Christianity" and called for a day of prayer.
The statement acknowledges the work of community leaders and political figures in attempting to bring peace to Northern Ireland and points to the network of religious, economic, historical, cultural and political factors which make the quest for unity so difficult.
The bishops' plea for peace prayers coincided this week with the Lenten message of Bishop Cahal Daly of Down and Connor who called for a renewed renunciation of violence and for repentance for "all the harm that community hates and violence have done to the Church and to Christianity."
Referring to the "prepetrators of these terrible deeds," the bishop urged, "end these killings. This is God's voice, not mine."