From the newsletter ...

On the beginning of hostilities in Iraq

A Statement from the Bishop of Oxford, the Right Reverend Richard Harries

The Prime Minister, after the parliamentary debate and vote, has authorised British participation in the military action against Iraq. Whatever our individual views about the moral legitimacy of this action (and there remains considerable doubt within the Church of England), I invite Christians across the Diocese of Oxford to join me in prayer for all those affected by war.

We pray, first, that the war will be quickly over and that both military and civilian casualties will be kept to an absolute minimum;

We pray for the Prime Minister and the leadership of our Armed Forces who bear a heavy and difficult responsibility for these awesome decisions, that all their actions - both tactical and strategic - may be informed by a concern for the ordinary people of Iraq and for the future stability of the region;

We pray for the members of our Armed Forces, and for the Chaplains ministering to them, for their safety and for their safe return;

And we pray that a better Iraq will emerge, free of tyranny and with a democratic place for all the peoples that live within its borders.

In a situation where power is overwhelmingly on the side of the American and British forces, we urge our leaders to conduct this engagement with minimum necessary force.

We continue to believe that God is ceaselessly at work at every point in the universe, working to make something better from the mess we make of things, drawing some good out of evil, and healing our broken-ness and division.

You may have been drawn into this conflict because a member of your family is deployed in the Gulf. If you would like us to pray for them as we remember all those caught up in the conflict please call me or the Parish office.

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© 2003; Published in Cogges Parish monthly newsletter, April 2003