Message from the Primate on the Orlando Massacre: ‘Let us be gentle and then let us be bold’

As I have been travelling over the last number of days, I have watched – horrified – as once again the people of the United States of America are plunged into national mourning in the wake of yet another mass shooting. This time in the early morning hours of Sunday, the 12th of June, a lone gunman opened fire in a nightclub in Orlando, Florida. A hailstorm of gunfire has left 49 people dead, 53 seriously wounded, their families in shock and grief, the LGBTQ+ community traumatized, Muslim communities shaken, and all people of good will horror-struck.

Our hearts have gone out first to parents who lost their children, siblings who lost brothers and sisters, partners who lost their beloved and all bereft of friendships they cherished. Let us hold them gently in our prayers...