Southwark remembers the Bali Victims

In a moving service on Wednesday 12 February, led by the Dean, the injured and the families and friends of those who had died in the Bali bombing came together to remember.

Gathering to the sound of muffled Cathedral bells they were joined by the Prince of Wales, Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, UK government ministers, MPs and official representatives of other countries affected. The Cathedral was bursting at the seams for the service which had been developed in consultation with the families and was designed to be accessible to all. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Southwark, the Most Rev. Michael Bowen, led the intercessions, and representatives of the Jewish, Muslim and Hindu faiths were also at the service.

During the service the Cathedral Canons lit 26 candles in memory of each United Kingdom citizen who died. In a comforting sermon, the Rt Rev. Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford, reminded those whose loved ones had died that life must go on no matter how hard that is to envisage and that their 'grief, charity and hope...can light up our lives and give hope to others'. To those who had survived he said that they 'still have the gift of life, a gift which can be used to help others and heal our broken world.'

The encouraging words of Tagore's poem 'Farewell my friends' read byJemma Redgrave led into an Act of Remembrance, after which children from the Cathedral School presented 569 orchids to the relatives, while the Balinese music group Gamelan Kembang Kirang played.

Bishop Tom pronounced the blessing at the end of the service after which His Royal Highness spoke to the families and survivors in a specially-erected marquee in the North West courtyard.