Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
February 6, 2002
2,000 attend Bloody Sunday commemoration in N. Ireland
Participants pray for victims of war around the globe at service
LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland (CNS) — Some 2,000 people prayed for the victims of war in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, the Middle East and New York at a remembrance service marking the 30th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
Retired Bishop Edward Daly of Derry led the prayers Jan. 30. In 1972, as a priest, he anointed some of the 13 people killed when British soldiers opened fire on a peaceful protest in the city known to Catholics as Derry.
"Here we are, 30 years later, and those terrible sights and sounds are still etched indelibly on our minds," Bishop Daly said. "I am wearing the stole that I wore on this day 30 years ago. For the last 30 years, it has rested beside a picture in my study, a picture of Jackie Duddy. It is one of my most treasured possessions."
One of the most recognizable images of Bloody Sunday is that of a young Father Daly waving a bloodstained handkerchief above his head as he tried unsuccessfully to drag a 17-year-old gunshot victim, Jack Duddy, to safety.
This year's Jan. 30 commemoration rededicated a memorial to Duddy and the other victims.
"Almighty God and Lord, we dedicate this memorial to the memory of those who lost their lives here 30 years ago today," Bishop Daly said. "We pray that they are at rest with thee, Lord. May their memory and this memorial be a reminder to us of the fruits of conflict and injustice which blighted this place for so long.
"We pray for victims everywhere — here in our own country and in Afghanistan, in the Middle East and in New York. We identify with all people who have suffered ... whatever race or religion or nation."
Bishop Daly led the campaign to overturn the findings of the Widgery Tribunal, established by the British government in the early 1970s to investigate the Bloody Sunday killings. The investigation, led by Lord Widgery, then Britain's most senior judge, found that the troops opened fire after they had been shot at by terrorist snipers and said some of the dead were carrying homemade hand grenades.
As part of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement, a new investigation, headed by Lord Saville, was set up to re-investigate the massacre, and it is hearing testimony from those who were present on that day. Already, more than 500 civilian witnesses have given evidence to the new investigation.
For more than three decades, Northern Ireland's unionists or loyalists, mainly Protestants, have been fighting the nationalists, mainly Catholics. Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain a province of Great Britain, while nationalists want Northern Ireland united with the Irish Republic.
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