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Christchurch mosque massacres: first anniversary

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A statement and prayer have been made available to the Australian community for the sad occasion of the first anniversary of the Christchurch mosque attacks by Religions for Peace Australia, the Islamic Council of Victoria and members of other Australian Islamic groups

National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) @NCCA_Australia
(L-R) Frances Thompson (wife of Bishop John Roundhill), Anglican Bishop of The Southern Region The Right Rev’d John Roundhill, Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane The Most Rev’d Mark Coleridge and Coptic Orthodox priest Fr David Mahrous at the 18 March 2019 prayer service for Christchurch mosque attack victims at The Islamic College of Brisbane
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(L-R) Frances Thompson (wife of Bishop John Roundhill), Anglican Bishop of The Southern Region The Right Rev’d John Roundhill, Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane The Most Rev’d Mark Coleridge and Coptic Orthodox priest Fr David Mahrous at the 18 March 2019 prayer service for Christchurch mosque attack victims at The Islamic College of Brisbane

Sunday 15 March Commemoration

A Statement and Prayer made available to the Australian community for this sad occasion by Religions for Peace Australia, the Islamic Council of Victoria and members of other Australian Islamic groups.

People of faith are encouraged to pray, meditate or reflect on this massacre according to their own tradition. In offering this prayer below, it is recognised that it may or may not suit your tradition.

Statement from Religions for Peace Australia (RfPA):

Sunday, March 15th will be the first anniversary of the Christchurch massacre at two of its mosques of 51 people (47 males, 4 females). The perpetrator was an Australian. Thus, the day will be an occasion for both sister nations of New Zealand and Australia to come together in grief to commemorate and remember this atrocity and to draw strength and generate togetherness. We ask religious communities in accordance with their own spiritual traditions to ask the divine for comfort, compassion and hope. The following prayer has been composed as one way of remembering this sad occasion:

Prayer for comfort, strength and recovery

O God of many names, O Lord of hope and resilience, Most merciful and compassionate God,

As we remember the one-year anniversary of the Christchurch massacre and the devastation brought upon our Muslim neighbours in New Zealand by an Australian perpetrator.

We grieve for the devastation and loss of the 51 victims and we weep with your people, hearing the cries of orphaned children and the laments of bereaved partners, overwhelmed by the enormity of what happened in Christchurch.

In recognizing the many needs of peoples across the world, as people of faith, we ask for the help, compassion and comfort that only the divine can bring in times of crisis and deep sorrow.

As people of faith, we pray for the hope that can lead us onward in opening up through this tragedy pathways to partnerships and peace in our nations and across the world.

As people of faith, in Your name of mercy and healing and compassion, we pray.

Published on the National Council of Churches in Australia website.

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