Rev. Latimer reflects on Bloody Sunday invite

After the publication of the Saville Report, it is the last time the families of those bereaved will make the annual walk from Creggan to Free Derry Corner, but Dr Latimer says he will not be taking part in that.

Keen to acknowledge that hurt and pain exists on 'both sides', and calling on his recent secondment as Army Chaplain to Afghanistan, Dr Latimer said he viewed the invitation as "a powerful, inclusive gesture", as well as an opportunity for people to take another small step forward towards a deeper understanding of the pain and hurt that exists for all who have suffered loss during 'The Troubles'.

In this exclusive reflection for the Londonderry Sentinel, Dr Latimer sets out his personal thoughts, revealing his deep commitment to bring forth something positive and enduring for everyone.

"Forty years for any of us is a very long time; yet for people who have lost valued loved ones during decades of civil unrest in our city and county, it's as if it all happened yesterday. That's the crystal-clear impression I was left with recently, following separate conversations with two First Derry families whose lives have been irrevocably altered by deadly terrorist bullets. Thank God the guns are now silent and in their place politicians, from both sides, debate, negotiate and talk at Stormont.

"Standing in the mortuary tent alongside bloodied body bags in Helmand Province, during my tour of duty in the second half of 2008, were stunned soldiers waiting for me to provide some sort of helpful statement. Frequently I struggled to find suitable words. However, I recall informing those sombre colleagues, on more than one occasion, how we were in fact all members of the same human family, which therefore meant that whenever any member of that family was hurt we all felt the pain.

"Time spent in a war zone relating to the relentless convoy of badly-broken bodies arriving into Camp Bastion by helicopter, comprising innocent women and children together with coalition force service personnel, Afghan security force personnel and insurgents, assists me to slightly better empathise with both Catholic and Protestant people all over the Northwest and beyond, who are hurting. Neither patriotism nor the desire to hold on to a piece of territory, however well intentioned, can justify the extermination of life. Regrettably in far too many of our family homes photographs, keepsakes and precious memories are all that remain of those whom sadly we have loved and lost. Notwithstanding, it was most reassuring for a number of our city's hurting families and their relatives to listen to Prime Minister Cameron last June helpfully summarise the content of Lord Saville's long awaited Bloody Sunday report. The liberating conclusions of this report are slowly providing Catholics, Nationalists and Republicans with an opportunity to experience healing, something which I firmly believe they are anxious to see extend to reach others who are hurting within our city and there are, it must be said, a great many people from the Unionist/Protestant/Loyalist tradition whose pain and hurt needs to be sympathetically heard and sensitively managed.

"Very understandably the emphasis has been to bring about much needed reform to both the political and legal institutions within our country. While this has been taking place, only limited attention, it seems, has been given to the severe levels of societal hurt that permeate the hearts and minds of a myriad of people. Many bereaved families stoically carry the burden of hurt and pain into their every day living. Despite the passing of a lengthy period of time scores of people have been unable to come to terms with the past and deal with their hurt.

"The publication of Lord Saville's report has truly brought the people of Derry/Londonderry to a crossroads. The wind of change is blowing and the time is right for all hurting people to be given the opportunity to move towards healing. Therefore we all need to STOP so as to see how we've got to where we currently are. Then we must Ask what precisely can be done within our city so that the balm of healing can be applied to the raw wounds painfully inflicted during decades of civil unrest. Finally, we must start to WALK in ways that will ensure the destructive and divisive activities of the past will never ever again take place.

"While sadly there is no magic wand that can be waved to suddenly make all things new, it is reasonable to believe that the road to reconciliation and transformation will be enhanced whenever, as a society, we see how the hurt of Catholics, Protestants, Nationalists, Republicans, Unionists and Loyalists is equally injurious and that all traumatised people have the same opportunities to have their hurt and loss acknowledged and the same help in coming to terms with their respective experiences.

"From a pastoral perspective it is important to underline how the God whom we worship in our various Protestant and Catholic churches week after week, is the same God who has no favourites, who excludes no one and who therefore includes everyone! Moreover it is vital for people, regardless of their political/religious label and all made in the image of God, to welcome the stranger, embrace the marginalized and love their enemies. Harmony, friendliness and community must come top of the list of things people in Derry/Londonderry most desire and anything that undermines these should be avoided like the plague!

"How incredible that an all powerful and everywhere present God should invest so much trust in fragile, vulnerable people so that justice, healing and reconciliation can be experienced by individuals, within families and throughout our city and wider council area.

"Receiving and choosing to accept the invitation to participate in this year's Bloody Sunday Ecumenical Service is important for a number of reasons. Firstly this is the first time I've received an invitation to be present, which in itself is a powerful, inclusive gesture. Secondly, in the past a Protestant minister would have felt uncomfortable at this event. Thirdly, neither community was ready to move out of their well-defined comfort zones of separation and poor relations, which made it virtually impossible for anyone to have a chance to move forward...Unprecedented change that has evolved within Northern Ireland suggest that living as strangers and enemies is not the best way for Derry/Londonderry's citizens to inherit a better shared society.

"Argentinean theologian, Enrique Dussell writes, 'Traveller the road is made by walking it.' Nothing is more applicable for our city and country at this moment in time. Daring to join the 'other side' and to stand shoulder to shoulder together, so that we can begin to shape our city for both communities to peacefully co-exist alongside each other, is unquestionably the road we desperately need to travel, for this is the road that will progressively bring into focus the bright brand new day, which we all earnestly desire for the town we love so well."