Press Releases15 Jun 10

Statement on the Saville Report from the Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd Alan Harper

Statement from the Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd Alan Harper, OBE, made at the Church of Ireland Standing Committee, Dublin, 15 June 2010:

‘This afternoon, in the House of Commons the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will address the House upon the publication of Lord Saville’s report on Bloody Sunday. It is inevitable that the contents of the report will be painful for many people, not least the families of those killed, those injured and those present on the day. It will also be a day of painful memories for the soldiers involved on that day. Furthermore, some of Lord Saville’s conclusions and recommendations may meet with limited acceptance by some people.

‘The report is 5,000 pages long with a substantial additional executive summary. It deserves and will require careful reflection rather than instant reaction. Christian people will also want to ensure that their reflection is the subject of humble prayer and I ask members of the Standing Committee to join in that process of prayerful reflection.

‘We know only too well that history cannot be rewritten and that although this tragic and devastating episode in our troubled past has received exhaustive (and yet incomplete) scrutiny, many others have not, will not and cannot. Therefore, as we hold the victims of Bloody Sunday in our prayers let us continue also to remember the thousands of others whose suffering continues and whose memories may have been reawakened by today’s publication and the media attention it will evoke.

‘My hope is that the lessons of the past will help us to build and sustain a better future for all our people and that neither bitterness nor disappointment will be allowed to blight our future. May God bless all the people of Ireland, inspire its governments and heal the hurts and memories if its peoples.’

++Alan