God and Guerillas

Not all of Belfast’s history centres on the city’s sectarian division, and sometimes when faced with an outside threat, both Protestant and Catholic worked hand in hand to protect the homeland that they hold dear. During the dark days of 1941, German bombs flattened large parts of the city. Belfast’s shipbuilding prowess was vital to Britain’s war effort, and Hitler’s Reich spared no expense in its attempt to eliminate this wing of Britain’s wartime industry. Over 1,000 civilians would die during the Belfast Blitz, and now, 75 years on, people from both the Protestant and Catholic communities came together in commemoration of the fallen.

St. Anne's Cathedral

The mourners gathered in St. Anne’s Cathedral on Donegall Street. At 3:00 in the afternoon, hundreds began their quiet walk through the cathedral’s heavy doors and into the spacious atrium inside. The sunlight shone through the colourful, stain-glass windows of Moses and St. Patrick illuminated British military flags; traditionally left to hang in a church until they rot away. These banners remained silently suspended above us, reminding us all of the Church of Ireland’s allegiance to the Anglican Communion. 

Royal Navy Flag in a Cathedral

However, while this service was in a Protestant church it was not an exclusively Protestant event. Both the Lord Mayor, a Catholic through and through, and the administrator of the nearby Roman Catholic Cathedral were in attendance. As the service began, all of Belfast’s divisions seemed to dissolve through combined faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Protestant and Catholic remembered the fallen, and prayed for peace on Earth.

Worshipers Leaving St. Anne's

Unfortunately, there are those in Belfast who are still not prepared to beat their swords into ploughshares, and last Friday the Irish Republican Army claimed another victim. The 33 year old father of four was shot three times in the legs and bled to death in the North Belfast estate of Ardoyne. This is the same neighbourhood where the P.S.N.I believes bombing of the prison officer in March was carefully planned out. I’ve attached a link to a B.B.C article below if you wish to read anything more about this dreadful killing.

B.B.C Article

Next Week: conclusions

Until Next Time!

Luke van Reede van Oudtshoorn