Sir, - With reference to your letters on the sad incidents at Drumcree Parish Church and elsewhere in Northern Ireland, the following sequel of events may be of interest to your letter writers and general readers.
In the course of my duties as diocesan curate I passed St James's Roman Catholic Church at Aldergrove on my way to take services in this vicinity. Normally the area is active with people arriving for their service. But there was an air of doom and gloom on this Sunday following the burning of the church. Even the birds seemed to be silent as we stopped to survey the eerie scene and to offer a dart prayer for all concerned. The burnt-out shell of the church sent a shiver up one's back bone.
On arrival at the first church at Gartree the churchwarden asked me to make reference in the course of the service to the dastardly burning and desecration of the Roman Catholic Church in the parish. This man is a keen member of the Orange Order. When I came to the second church the secretary of the select vestry asked me to do the very same thing.
Both my wife and I felt an air of despondency in those two services because of this act of sacrilege to a church in the area. Actually I had intended to make reference to the incident. The lovely story of Ruth which was one of the appointed readings provided an excellent background with its all inclusive teaching. The suggestion that a letter be sent to the parish priest with a donation met with a very favourable response. We remembered the parish in the intercessions and prayers. The organists in both churches changed some hymns to suit the sombre occasion.
But the punchline came after the second service. A very prominent member of the Orange Order and former leader of the Unionist Party is a regular worshipper and choir member. In his typically quiet and gracious way he told me that the members of the local Orange Lodge of which he is a member had sent their condolences to the parish priest whom he knows well. This gesture was accompanied with a very good contribution to the rebuilding fund!
These touching, moving and spontaneous actions speak volumes in a very difficult situation and may help to allay some of the fears of your not so very charitable correspondents. - Yours, etc., Canon Kenneth E. Ruddock, Diocesan Curate,
Fourtowns Manor, Ahoghill, Co Antrim.