USCCB President expresses “support and concern” over London bombings

Washington D.C., Jul 7, 2005 / 22:00 pm

Following yesterday’s rush hour bombing of London’s mass transit system resulting in an estimated 50 dead and 700 injured, Bishop William Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter offering support and concern to his British counterpart.

In the letter, addressed to Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, President of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales, Bishop Skylstad recalled “with great appreciation the tremendous expression of support and concern received from the Church in England and Wales and from many other hierarchies at the time of the devastating terrorist attacks upon our nation on September 11, 2001.

”In that same vein, he offered the Cardinal and all people of the U.K. a similar expression of support and concern as was given to the U.S.

The Bishop also noted the celebration of “the great honor of London’s being chosen to host the 2012 Olympic Games, which are meant to symbolize international solidarity and good will.”“It is tragic”, he wrote, “that you should now have to face the terrorism which seeks to divide nation against nation and which shadows the globe with the specter of sudden death perpetrated against the innocent.

”Bishop Skylstad expressed his heartfelt prayers for the dead and the injured as well as “for you and your fellow Bishops that you might be strengthened in this sorrowful moment by your faith in the Lord who rose to new life after the most fearful of deaths and inspire your people with your example of faith, hope, and love.”