Prayers for Moscow airport bombing victims: The Church of England Newspaper, Jan 28, 2011 p 7. January 29, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Russian Orthodox, Terrorism.trackback
Patriarch Cyril of Moscow and All Russia
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has joined European church leaders in offering his condolences and prayers for those killed in the Moscow Airport bombing.
On Jan 24 a bomb exploded in an unguarded area of the international arrivals section of Moscow’s Domodedova airport, killing 35 and wounding 168. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the blast, though past terror attacks in Russia have been linked to Chechens and other separatist ethnic groups in the North Caucasus region.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has vowed “retribution” for the attack.
Patriarch Cyril of Moscow and All Russia called the attack a “horrific crime” and urged Russians to unite in the face of terrorism.
“There is and there can be no justification for such criminal aggression,” Cyril said in a statement published on the Moscow Patriarchate website, and asked all Russia to “unite to fight the inhumane attacks that kill innocent people.”
Those who “committed this have put themselves outside law, both human and divine,” the patriarch said.
Dr Rowan Williams wrote to Cyril on Jan 25 offering his prayers. “I write to assure you and all your people of our prayers for those injured and killed and our deep sorrow for this new trauma inflicted on the Russian people. We shall be praying too for yourself and for all others among the clergy of the Orthodox Church who will be involved in ministering to those who have suffered.”
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone sent a telegram of condolence to Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, expressing the pope’s “profound suffering and firm condemnation at this serious act of violence,” the Vatican Information Service reported.
A survivor of the 9/11 attack in New York, Dr. Williams noted that “we know from experience in London something of what these atrocities feel like, and there will be very many here who will want to join me in expressing our sympathy and our condemnation of this indiscriminate violence.”
