Diocesan News19 Apr 11

Joint Easter Message from Church Leaders in Derry/Londonderry

Joint Easter Statement by Most Rev Seamus Hegarty (Roman Catholic Bishop of Derry), Right Rev Ken Good (Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe), Rev Robert Buick (Moderator of Derry & Donegal Presbytery), Rev David Latimer (First Derry Presbyterian), Rev Peter Murray (Carlisle Road Methodist)

At Easter we are reminded of the Christian message of hope. Hope is the strong and confident expectation of a new life. Incredibly there are those who wish to extinguish hope for this community - the hope of peace. In its place the only offer they have for their neighbour is destructive acts that are rooted in bitterness. As church leaders from the ancient city of Derry / Londonderry we join our voices with the settled will of the people. We refuse to have our hope for this community extinguished.

The power of the Christian message at Easter is that death does not have the last word. Its power is finally broken by the death and resurrection of Christ. As Christian leaders we declare that something else has been broken. It is the historic cycle whereby political difference on this island has been addressed by violence. We are in a process of building peace with our neighbour and are in no doubt that a historic cycle is broken. Death will not have the last word.

The successful breaking of a historic cycle coupled with the commitment of all parts of this community to live in peace presents great hope for today and for future generations. We represent different religious traditions that agree on many matters and occasionally not on others. Our ability and commitment to speak as one about our strong and confident hope for the future is symbolic of the new future for our community.

More than ever we believe that the central teachings of Christ and the message of Easter, of death resurrection and reconciliation, have great meaning here. Like the Christian pilgrimage there may be challenging moments. However, our strong and confident hope for this community is one where life and hope now triumph over the darkness of the past. For those diminishing few whose contribution to our humanity is violence we remind them of its utter futility in the face of the settled will of the community. It is also futile for their own personal lives and future. They answer not only to justice but also to their conscience and ultimately their Maker.