Message of sympathy from Bishop of Lancaster
The following letter is being read publicly at the Weekend Masses in all Parishes of the West Cumbria Deanery of Our Lady and St Benedict (and the Parish of Our Lady & St James, Millom) affecting by the shootings on Wednesday which claimed twelve lives and injured many more. .
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ in West Cumbria,
I write to you as your bishop to express my very heartfelt sorrow and pain, and that of the whole Diocese of Lancaster, at the dreadful and tragic events which were inflicted upon you last Wednesday, and with which you are still trying to come to terms. You have my deepest sympathy at this the worst and most recent tragedy to befall your community, the third in a matter of months. Your faith and your endurance are being sorely tried.
The cruel nature of the deed, which destroyed so many innocent lives and brought injury and heartache to countless others, leaves us numb and confused. In the commendably close community that is West Cumbria few of you will have been left untouched or unmoved by the untold suffering and distress of your neighbours. Please reassure all who have been innocently and unjustly caught up in this evil spiral that they remain uppermost in the thoughts and prayers of the Bishop and Catholics of Lancaster Diocese. On Monday evening (7 June) at 7.00pm I will offer Mass in St Begh’s Church, Whitehaven, for the deceased
victims, the injured and the bereaved. I invite as many of you who feel able to come and join me and your priests in this Mass.
We turn to Christ the Son of God at this time of sorrow and sadness, and beg for his healing and the strength to bear the heavy cross which has been laid upon the people of West Cumbria. May Our Lady, the Mother of Jesus, embrace you all with her maternal love and care, and bring the peace of Christ to your troubled hearts.
With my blessing and sincere prayers,
+Michael Campbell OSA
Bishop of Lancaster