Having attended the Holocaust Memorial Week act of remembrance at Belfast City Hall, the President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Revd. David Nixon said: 

"It was an honour and a privilege to join in today's act of remembrance, keeping in our thoughts and continued prayers the memory of all those many millions put to death under the Nazi regime as well as those who survived with the memory of the horrors they witnessed and the losses they bore intact. 

"It is such a commonplace and clichéd thing to say that it is important to continue to remember the atrocities of the past so that they cannot recur in the future, but the truth of that statement remains as strong as ever. 

"It behoves people of faith to continue to trust that God will put an end to suffering and let his road to peace be discovered in the minds of those best placed to bring that peace into being on earth. But whether your faith is strong or non-existent, there is much we can do as people to encourage one another on a path of acceptance, tolerance and peaceful dialogue so that the hatred, bitterness, fear, cynical manipulation and wilful unwillingness to understand that brought about the Holocaust can one day truly be consigned to history. 

"May the past liberate, not shackle us, and may our mindfulness of its lessons guide us towards peace and progress."

ENDS

Issued by:

Rev. Roy Cooper (07710 945104)
Press Officer

24/01/2023