WCC NEWS: WCC offers condolences in wake of Great Britain attack

As Great Britain continued to cope with grief and trauma in the wake of the country’s deadliest terror attack in 12 years, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit offered sympathy for those who lost loved ones from both Great Britain and other countries.

“I speak for the whole fellowship of Christian churches around the world when I say that we unconditionally condemn this criminal act of terror, whatever the motivation behind it have been, and we stand in solidarity with you in these difficult and trying circumstances,” he wrote.

Tveit urged WCC member churches and all people in Great Britain and elsewhere to stay strong in their faith in God and also in their commitment to God’s love, which embraces all, and God’s reign, which holds out hope for a just and inclusive society, one of compassion and reconciliation. “It is sorely needed now,” Tveit wrote.

The aspiration of an inclusive society is tested by such events as this attack, he continued. “Yet It was St Bede who summoned a vision not only of individual Christians healing the wounds of their neighbours but also of a whole compassionate community—a cradle of redemptive love—leading the way to reconciliation through practicing the values of the reign of God.”

Condolence letter by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit