TO ALLOW THIS TO DIVIDE US WOULD BE TO ALLOW EVIL TO PREVAIL
To allow this to divide us would be to allow evil to prevail..the people will not let that happen
BRIAN READE
REPORTS FROM OMAGH
TOWERING above the dark and shattered town of Omagh stands a glorious symbol of hope. It's visible every time the broken people lift their eyes from the ground and look up.
There on the top of the hill which dominates the skyline are two churches huge and splendid enough to pass for cathedrals. One is Catholic the other Protestant.
It takes 55 steps to walk from one to the other. Less than a minute to bridge the sectarian chasm that threatens to sentence this tragic province to eternal misery.
And it is there on Church Street, where the spires of these two churches rise above a community littered with devastated hearts and souls, where hope lies. Where the future can begin.
It is here where the people have flocked since Saturday. Here where the religious divide is narrowing down to those 55 steps.
The irony of this appalling act of savagery is that it was carried out in a town religiously split down the middle, where the different faiths live in relative harmony.
"To allow this to divide us would be to allow evil to prevail and we won't let that happen here," said Rev Ruth Adams, of the St Columba's Church of Ireland church.
"Things were already strong between us and the Catholic Church before Saturday but since then we have adopted a virtual united front.
"We have always worked together but now we are building on that unity.
"We have been giving support to each other through this dreadful time. There has been a tremendous feeling of being brothers and sisters together through the whole thing. And that's what's bringing us all through, the realisation that if we all help one another across the community we can win.
"This is a great town. Its people will not let evil prevail because there is so much good here."
Fifty five paces away at the magnificent 100-year-old St Joseph's church Father James Keaveny echoed the sentiments.
"This hill is a marvellous symbol of hope." he said. "It is a great place for coming together. For healing. The relations between the two churches have been excellent and will continue to be.
IT IS the only way forward. The people of Omagh know that. I have been here six years and it is a wonderful place. A quiet place.
"The people know they have got off very lightly during the Troubles because people generally don't look for trouble with each other.
"They live together. They do their best to get on with each other. They try to ignore the divisions and realise we all have to work with one another.
"Everyone must understand that is the only way forward."
Since Saturday's outrage people have been instinctively climbing the hill to pray in silence at the churches in Church Street, which also has Methodist and Presbyterian churches on it.
On Sunday the congregations were much larger than usual and St Joseph's was packed.
In the parish club a makeshift chapel for those affected by the tragedy has been set up and there are rarely less than 20 people in at any time.
Outside is a huge bucket of Holy Water. Inside are statues of the Virgin Mary, a sea of freshly lit candles and women, knees rubbing against the cold lino, saying rosaries.
It is an eerie sound. All you hear is a low monotonous whisper occasionally broken by a tearful snuffle.
I ask Father Keaveny why this pointless loss of life hasn't turned people against God and he is quick to answer: "These acts don't turn people against the church. If anything their bonds are strengthened.
"They need something to turn to, and they realise that it is their faith The people here have a deep faith. They realise this tragedy was a man-made thing and you can't blame God.
"The real difficulty we have with suffering is explaining it. That is a very difficult one.
"We can't understand why such a thing would happen but people accept it is part and parcel of a Christian's life to suffer."
One such person was Eileen McGuigan who has been visiting the chapel to pray ever since Saturday night, even though her daughter-in-law and 14-year-old grand-daughter were injured in the blast.
"We need all the faith we can get now." she said, with eyes that looked like they hadn't stopped crying for 48 hours. And probably hadn't.
"The girls had gone shopping and they were on the edge of the blast but they saw all the dead bodies and they are terribly shook-up.
"They will never be the same again. We are all victims really. And we only have God to help us through it. You can't blame Him at all."
She went back to the chapel clutching her rosary beads, dipping her hand in the bucket of Holy Water, "to pray for those poor people whose families didn't come back".
Rev Ruth Adams also believes the butchery hasn't turned people against God.
"It was chaos.' she admitted, "but people worked so well with each other to get through the chaos. And that is through their love of God.
"There may well be people who say they have lost their faith but this town is still in deep shock.
"But through people's reactions to one another they are showing their love for each other. And that is the love of God."
But how does Father Keaveny feel when these terrorists carry out their evil in the name of religion, when they kill their own as they did on Saturday?
He frowns deeply and shakes his head. "This atrocity was certainly not done in name of Catholicism," he said. "This is not a religious war being fought here. It never has been. It is a war about power. There are some people trying to gain power by force.
"People who feel left out by agreement and talking. People who seem to want to kill to get power. Now that is a terrible thing. But it is nothing to do with a Catholic-Protestant thing."
FATHER Keaveny was a priest in Derry at the time of Bloody Sunday. But he says even that day was not as terrible as Saturday in Omagh.
"I've just spent the hardest weekend of my life," he adds. "It really was horrific, blood everywhere. You almost feel helpless."
I ask if it has made him question his own faith. He looks pensive.
"All of us have questions about faith but I believe in the goodness of God. There are plenty of people killed by natural disasters but this is caused by the evil of men and man has the power to overcome it."
I ask if the tragedy moved him to tears and he half nods.
"Seeing so many people wounded it made me think how amazing, how resilient people are." he says. "A woman I spoke to said 'I'm not going to die'. I admired that greatly. But at the same it was so horrific you couldn't help but be close to tears."
So has he a message for the killers? "I suppose my message will be 'You don't win through violence - you win through forgiveness'.
"And I hope to God we will get a settlement in the end. But I will never forget this. You know we can't let the killers win and if we all stick together they won't."
The people of Omagh would do well to echo the optimism of their church leaders. And do well to lift their heads to the sky today and see the future in a journey linking the churches above their grieving community.
A journey that takes only 55 steps.
BRIAN READE
REPORTS FROM OMAGH
TOWERING above the dark and shattered town of Omagh stands a glorious symbol of hope. It's visible every time the broken people lift their eyes from the ground and look up.
There on the top of the hill which dominates the skyline are two churches huge and splendid enough to pass for cathedrals. One is Catholic the other Protestant.
It takes 55 steps to walk from one to the other. Less than a minute to bridge the sectarian chasm that threatens to sentence this tragic province to eternal misery.
And it is there on Church Street, where the spires of these two churches rise above a community littered with devastated hearts and souls, where hope lies. Where the future can begin.
It is here where the people have flocked since Saturday. Here where the religious divide is narrowing down to those 55 steps.
The irony of this appalling act of savagery is that it was carried out in a town religiously split down the middle, where the different faiths live in relative harmony.
"To allow this to divide us would be to allow evil to prevail and we won't let that happen here," said Rev Ruth Adams, of the St Columba's Church of Ireland church.
"Things were already strong between us and the Catholic Church before Saturday but since then we have adopted a virtual united front.
"We have always worked together but now we are building on that unity.
"We have been giving support to each other through this dreadful time. There has been a tremendous feeling of being brothers and sisters together through the whole thing. And that's what's bringing us all through, the realisation that if we all help one another across the community we can win.
"This is a great town. Its people will not let evil prevail because there is so much good here."
Fifty five paces away at the magnificent 100-year-old St Joseph's church Father James Keaveny echoed the sentiments.
"This hill is a marvellous symbol of hope." he said. "It is a great place for coming together. For healing. The relations between the two churches have been excellent and will continue to be.
IT IS the only way forward. The people of Omagh know that. I have been here six years and it is a wonderful place. A quiet place.
"The people know they have got off very lightly during the Troubles because people generally don't look for trouble with each other.
"They live together. They do their best to get on with each other. They try to ignore the divisions and realise we all have to work with one another.
"Everyone must understand that is the only way forward."
Since Saturday's outrage people have been instinctively climbing the hill to pray in silence at the churches in Church Street, which also has Methodist and Presbyterian churches on it.
On Sunday the congregations were much larger than usual and St Joseph's was packed.
In the parish club a makeshift chapel for those affected by the tragedy has been set up and there are rarely less than 20 people in at any time.
Outside is a huge bucket of Holy Water. Inside are statues of the Virgin Mary, a sea of freshly lit candles and women, knees rubbing against the cold lino, saying rosaries.
It is an eerie sound. All you hear is a low monotonous whisper occasionally broken by a tearful snuffle.
I ask Father Keaveny why this pointless loss of life hasn't turned people against God and he is quick to answer: "These acts don't turn people against the church. If anything their bonds are strengthened.
"They need something to turn to, and they realise that it is their faith The people here have a deep faith. They realise this tragedy was a man-made thing and you can't blame God.
"The real difficulty we have with suffering is explaining it. That is a very difficult one.
"We can't understand why such a thing would happen but people accept it is part and parcel of a Christian's life to suffer."
One such person was Eileen McGuigan who has been visiting the chapel to pray ever since Saturday night, even though her daughter-in-law and 14-year-old grand-daughter were injured in the blast.
"We need all the faith we can get now." she said, with eyes that looked like they hadn't stopped crying for 48 hours. And probably hadn't.
"The girls had gone shopping and they were on the edge of the blast but they saw all the dead bodies and they are terribly shook-up.
"They will never be the same again. We are all victims really. And we only have God to help us through it. You can't blame Him at all."
She went back to the chapel clutching her rosary beads, dipping her hand in the bucket of Holy Water, "to pray for those poor people whose families didn't come back".
Rev Ruth Adams also believes the butchery hasn't turned people against God.
"It was chaos.' she admitted, "but people worked so well with each other to get through the chaos. And that is through their love of God.
"There may well be people who say they have lost their faith but this town is still in deep shock.
"But through people's reactions to one another they are showing their love for each other. And that is the love of God."
But how does Father Keaveny feel when these terrorists carry out their evil in the name of religion, when they kill their own as they did on Saturday?
He frowns deeply and shakes his head. "This atrocity was certainly not done in name of Catholicism," he said. "This is not a religious war being fought here. It never has been. It is a war about power. There are some people trying to gain power by force.
"People who feel left out by agreement and talking. People who seem to want to kill to get power. Now that is a terrible thing. But it is nothing to do with a Catholic-Protestant thing."
FATHER Keaveny was a priest in Derry at the time of Bloody Sunday. But he says even that day was not as terrible as Saturday in Omagh.
"I've just spent the hardest weekend of my life," he adds. "It really was horrific, blood everywhere. You almost feel helpless."
I ask if it has made him question his own faith. He looks pensive.
"All of us have questions about faith but I believe in the goodness of God. There are plenty of people killed by natural disasters but this is caused by the evil of men and man has the power to overcome it."
I ask if the tragedy moved him to tears and he half nods.
"Seeing so many people wounded it made me think how amazing, how resilient people are." he says. "A woman I spoke to said 'I'm not going to die'. I admired that greatly. But at the same it was so horrific you couldn't help but be close to tears."
So has he a message for the killers? "I suppose my message will be 'You don't win through violence - you win through forgiveness'.
"And I hope to God we will get a settlement in the end. But I will never forget this. You know we can't let the killers win and if we all stick together they won't."
The people of Omagh would do well to echo the optimism of their church leaders. And do well to lift their heads to the sky today and see the future in a journey linking the churches above their grieving community.
A journey that takes only 55 steps.
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/034
Published Date: 18-Aug-98
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