Minister shares thoughts on Bloody Sunday

“During our difficult and dreadful past, so many valued family members from both communities across this city tragically lost their lives,” he said.

“The agony, the hurt, the loss and the pain broke many a human heart but miraculously never managed to break the spirit of those who believed there was a better way to live.

Astonishingly, since 15th June 2010, when Lord Saville’s long awaited report was published, a common vision has started to slowly evolve enabling each of us to somehow feel the suffering of our time and to see the divisions within our city.

“Today as we pause to recall the horrific outcome of that fateful day in January 1972 when 14 people from this city were killed, we remember and pray for all their relatives. We also remember and pray for the wounded hearts and the broken lives of everyone whose loved ones were cut down during the Troubles and who sadly are no more. We will never forget any of those who died because deep inside we know that their supreme sacrifice will powerfully convey to generations still unborn the perils of living in a divided society,” he said.

“Therefore, out of immense gratitude for all whom we have loved and lost, we must strive to stand in the other’s shoes so that his or her perspective is better understood and we must endeavour to explore opportunities for working together rather than finding excuses for ignoring one another.

“In the words of Sir George Quigley, one of the speakers at yesterday’s Towards a New Republic Conference, ‘we must become a society that will grow ever closer together at all levels, learning to live closely together as friendly allies and not as wary adversaries.’

“There is a yearning for new hope throughout our city - I’ve seen it in people’s faces and I’ve felt it in their handshakes. Hope is not just the absence of despair, it’s the presence of something greater, something only God can give. Hope is not passive – it’s the most active force in the world, because it’s derived from the most powerful being of all, namely God, the Father of us all, who is closer to each of us than we are to each other.

“So, the good news for everybody on this painful day of remembrance is, God can take all the experiences of life – good, bad, happy and sad and He can use everything that has happened in our lives to make us unbelievably better at what He has created us to be and to do.

“Surely this assists all of us to lift up our chins and square our shoulders for both the dark passages and the bright days that lie ahead. We do not have every answer and there are questions yet unasked, but of this much we can be certain – together we can make a difference. Therefore let us as Catholics, Protestants, Nationalists, Unionists, Republicans and Loyalists willingly stand alongside each other, to restate and reaffirm our commitment to peace and to working in partnership with each other. We will overcome and we will all be one some day.”