Crowds pack London churches

2005-07-10 11:59

London - Crowds of Londoners packed churches across London on Sunday to mourn the victims of last week's terrorist attacks and pray for peace and calm.

People streamed into St Pancras Parish Church, where a memorial service was being held to remember the victims of Thursday's bombings, including 13 people killed just a few meters away when a bomb destroyed a double-decker bus.

Memorial services also were planned at St Paul's Cathedral, where special prayers were to be offered and candles lit in honor of the victims. At least 49 people died in the attacks.

"The prayers of every one of us at St. Pauls are with the victims and their families, their colleagues and their friends," the church said in a statement posted on its website. "Nothing will compromise in any way the determination of the people of London to withstand the evils of terrorist activity."

Britain's top religious leaders, meanwhile, planned to issue a joint statement later in the day appealing to Muslims, Christians and Jews to unite in their condemnation of terrorism and their resolve to fight it.

The statement was to come from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Free Churches Moderator David Coffey, Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks and Sheikh Zaki Badawi, who heads the Council of Mosques and Imams.

The religious leaders have pulled together in the past to deplore the September 11, 2001, attacks and the March 2004 terrorist bombings in Madrid, Spain.

- AP