29.11.2023
Dublin’s Faith Traditions Unite in Act of Lament Towards Hope
Representatives of Dublin City’s faith communities gathered in St Patrick’s Cathedral on Monday evening (November 27) to pray for peace and an end to wars around the world. Dublin City Interfaith Forum (DCIF) organised the ‘Act of Lament Towards Hope – From War to Peace’ to create a sacred space to pray for the healing of the soul of our nation and a deepening of compassion throughout our wounded world.
Those attending were welcomed by the Dean of St Patrick’s, the Very Revd William Morton, who noted that for over 800 years, the Prayers of the Faithful had been offered in the cathedral, in good times and bad, and before that on the site which dated back to the time of St Patrick.
As the journey towards lament began, DCIF’s executive officer, Adrian Cristea, asked participants to remember that grief was unspoken and could be shared. He added that as people remembered families and individuals who were traumatised as a result of being caught up in all wars and violence, they should also hold a space for hope.
Archbishop Michael Jackson, chairperson of DCIF, said people came to the service in search of three things: a sense of belonging to one another, a sense of shared grief, and a sense of solidarity.
During the service there were prayers and readings from the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Baha’I, Sikh and Buddhist traditions. Musical interludes, played by the cathedral’s organ scholar, provided space for reflection. The representatives of each faith gathered in hope to light candles in the “shared conviction of faiths around the world that light is not supressed by darkness.