Diocesan News10 Aug 11

Bishop of Down & Dromore speaks on English Riots

England riots: “We stand in solidarity with the victims,” says Bishop Harold Miller

After 4 days of riots in London and outbreaks in other English cities, Bishop of Down and Dromore, The Rt Revd Harold Miller, has expressed solidarity with those who are victims of the violent unrest:

“Coming from a part of the United Kingdom which has experienced many occasions of rioting over the past decades, we in Ulster are still shocked and saddened by the scenes of devastation we have witnessed on television and the internet in English cities over the last days.

We stand in solidarity with the victims - people who are in fear of their safety, their lives and their businesses.

The factors which lie behind these riots are unclear at the moment, as has been the case very often in Northern Ireland, and our emotions in watching can move, even within seconds, from anger to sadness.

However we interpret these events, we will be praying for great wisdom for the police, for the establishment of a society where all feel that they have worth, and for the stabilising grace of God to be known in the cities which have been affected.”

ENDS