A "Book of Peace" asking paramilitaries to end their violence was opened in Belfast yesterday as the funeral took place of a Catholic man shot dead by loyalists last week.
Mr Liam Conway (39) was buried in Donaghmore, Co Tyrone, after Requiem Mass in the Sacred Heart Church off the Oldpark Road in north Belfast.
He was murdered as he laid gas pipes in the loyalist Hesketh Road area on Friday.
Mr Conway worked to support his two blind brothers. There were emotional scenes outside the church when one of his brothers carried his coffin.
The Auxiliary Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Anthony Farquhar, said the truly blind were "those whose eyes are covered with the cataracts of bitterness and bigotry, hostility and hatred".
He described Mr Conway as "caring, compassionate" and giving to his family. His murder was sinister. "Liam was targeted by someone who knew him, someone who recognised him only as a Catholic, not a person. As Liam worked to keep his family, an evil coward came out of the dark, took that life from him and ran back into the dark again".
Bishop Farquhar said the Catholics randomly killed by loyalists during the past week had been soft targets. "They were people who had tried to mix in the wider community - people who had lived and loved, worked and played in that wider community.
"People easily reached because of their fearless willingness and courageous determination to love their neighbour in the widest possible sense." He added that some elements in the community could not cope with those who wanted to break down sectarian barriers.
"To those who have killed during this week, I say: `You are antiChristian. You are anti all that is best in Catholicism and for that same reason you are anti all that is best in Protestantism'."
The SDLP Lord Mayor of Belfast, Mr Alban Maginness, and his Ulster Unionist deputy, Mr Jim Rodgers, were the first to sign the Book of Peace in City Hall yesterday. The initiative was launched by Northern Ireland's two morning newspapers - the nationalist Irish News and the unionist News- Letter.
The newspapers hope local councils across the North will cooperate and open more books. Mr Maginness said: "Ordinary people are crying out for an end to the violence. As Lord Mayor, I want to do all that I can to let them raise their voices. This gives people a positive way of demonstrating their commitment to peace."
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is holding a demonstration in Belfast on Friday demanding an end to the violence. Other rallies will be held in Derry, Enniskillen and Lurgan.
Meanwhile, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Connor, the Right Rev James Moore, said the recent murders have brought shame on the entire community.
"They have caused widespread fear and anger and made many innocent people grieve for loved ones cruelly gunned down. We must admire those, who in their hurt and sorrow, have had the selfless courage to plead for no retaliation because they do not want others to face the misery they are going through."