Bishops in united call for unity

Bishop Ken Good, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe and Bishop Donal McKeown, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Derry, have marked Community Relations Week with an appeal for community unity.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Jun 2014, 13:12 BST
Rt Rev Ken Good Bishop of Derry and RaphoeRt Rev Ken Good Bishop of Derry and Raphoe
Rt Rev Ken Good Bishop of Derry and Raphoe

In a joint statement to mark their support for Community Relations Week in the city, which runs from June 16 to 22 , Bishop McKeown and Bishop Good said: “The challenge in our community is twofold. It is to strive tirelessly to heal the wounds caused by our violent conflict. It is also to ensure that such conflict never happens again. We can best do this by journeying towards reconciliation, so that a cycle of historic division is broken once and for all in this land.

“We take seriously the command of Christ, the head of the Church, as told in the story of The Good Samaritan, Luke, Chapter 10, verses 25 to 37. His command to love God above all other allegiances and to love our neighbour as we would ourselves is the path to a future with hope.

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“Differences whether of history, race, religion or politics do not define who our neighbour is. Christ teaches us that every person is our ‘neighbour’ and that we are to find practical ways to ‘love’ them. We renew our Christian commitment to loving our neighbour in this city, whoever that neighbour may be,” they said.

“As we work for the healing of wounds and reconciliation in our city we recognize and commend the significant work already being done. This is not only by our own members but also through much patient community work.”

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