Religious delegates gather for Mass

Religious representatives from 54 different countries gathered tonight to celebrate Mass in Belfast.

The Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazarotto, led worshipers in the service at St Peter’s Cathedral in the west of the city.

They were in Northern Ireland for the five-day General Assembly of Catholic Justice and Peace Commissions. Delegates were considering what Europe can learn from the church’s role in conflict in the province.

Bishop Patrick Walsh and the President of the gathering, Auxillary Bishop of Trier in Germany Leo Schwarz, were also present.

Bishop Walsh said: “This cathedral and this parish has suffered greatly during our years of conflict.

“Years of violence in this parish and this cathedral have left scars.

“There were physical scars but more than that there were very severe emotional and mental and spiritual scars.”

Earlier, Bishop Schwarz presented a piece of the Berlin Wall to Methodist minister John Wonnacot and other groups which make up the Forthspring community project on the Shankill/Sprucefield Road religious interface in west Belfast.

Bishop Schwarz told mass-goers during his homily that the role of the church was paramount in healing division.

“I am sure that everybody in this struggle will find a conclusion which gives you hope and a good future,” he said.

St Peter’s was re-opened in 2005 after extensive restoration work following decades of strife in the lower Falls area.

A member of the parish, a nine-year-old child, was one of the first to die when trouble broke out in 1969.