Quebec City Mosque Attack
On the evening of Sunday, January 29, 2017 a mosque in the Ste-Foy neighbourhood of Quebec City full of congregants gathered for Evening Prayer was attacked by gunfire killing 6 and injuring 19 (5 critically).
On January 30, 2017, the Right Reverend Bruce Myers, Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Quebec wrote this note on social media posts accompanying a pastoral letter;
In the wake of the heinous attack on a Quebec City mosque, Bishop Mary Irwin-Gibson and I encourage Quebec's Anglicans to pray for and stand in solidarity with our Muslim neighbours.
In the letter they wrote:
Along with our grief and prayers we are called as disciples of Jesus to express our solidarity with our neighbours who are Muslim... We wish to express directly to our Muslim neighbours in Quebec our grief and repugnance at this brutal act of violence agains another community of fiath, and one in the midst of prayer. When one is attached, we are all attached, and our whole society is diminished.
A jpg of the letter is attached below for downloading.
The Most Reverend Fred Hiltz, Primate fo the Anglican Church of Canada posted this pastoral letter on the General Synod/National Church website at 11:30am EST, Monday, January 30.
In the letter he writes:
"My heart, indeed the hearts of all people of good will, goes out to all Muslims across Canada as they struggle with this terrible attack. We hold in our prayers those who have died, for their families and for their imams who care for them in their grief. We also pray for those who have been injured and for those tending them. We remember too the police, and all others whose daily work is to 'serve and protect'.
At moments like this, people of faith must stand together in solidarity for those values common to our respective religious traditions: the adoration of God, the respect we owe one another as fellow human beings, and the care with which we tend the earth, our common home."
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State to His Holiness Pope Francis sent a telegram to Cardinal Gerald Lacroix, Catholic Archbishop of Quebec City. It is linked here.
The Cardinal writes:
"Apprenant l'attentat survenu à Québec dans une salle de prière du Centre culturel islamique, faisant plusieurs victimes, Sa Sainteté le Pape François confie à la miséricorde de Dieu les personnes qui ont perdu la vie et il s'associe parla prière à la peine de leurs proches. Il exprime sa profonde sympathie aux blessés et à leurs familles, ainsi qu'à toutes les personnes qui ont contribué aux secours, demandant au Seigneur de leur apporter réconfort et consolation dans l'épreuve. Le Saint-Père condamne fermement à nouveau la violence qui engendre tant de souffrances, et implorant de Dieu le don du respect mutuel et de la paix, il invoque sur les familles éprouvées et sur les personnes touchées par ce drame ainsi que sur tous les Québécois le bienfait des Bénédictions divines."