23/04/2019
Archbishop Justin Welby sent this message to an Ecumenical Service of Prayer for Sri Lanka at St John’s Southall Green, London, yesterday after the killings on Easter Day.
My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I am profoundly shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling events in Sri Lanka yesterday.
There is something especially blasphemous about the wanton and indiscriminate taking of human life on the day when Christians celebrate the resurrection of the Lord of all life: Jesus Christ, Saviour of the World.
The killing of those who were engaged in worship is an obscene denial of the basic freedom God has given us all. Sri Lanka has suffered so much as a nation and the trauma of these deaths cannot serve the purpose of anyone who truly knows God, the creator and sustainer of life in all its fullness.
Although I cannot be with you in person, please be assured of my thoughts and prayers for you as you meet in Southall and for all who grieve in Sri Lanka.
We are called to be part of the global body of Christ and we hurt because others are hurt; we mourn when others mourn; we cry out on behalf of the injured, the bereaved and the terrified; and we pray that Sri Lanka and all Sri Lankans across the globe, will know the peace and protection of Almighty God this evening.
Yours in Christ,
++Justin