Derry residents offer ACC lessons in forgiveness, reconciliation after decades of conflict

[Episcopal News Service – Londonderry, Northern Ireland] The Peace Bridge is one of the most prominent public symbols of reconciliation in this city, once an epicenter of Irish sectarian violence. Completed in 2011, the bridge connects the city’s two halves, though the east side is still mostly Protestant and the west side mostly Roman Catholic, decades after a peace agreement marked an end to the conflict known as The Troubles.

A more personal symbol of reconciliation can be found in the face of Richard Moore. His right eye is gone. His left eye remains, but it no longer sees. Raised Catholic in the west-side neighborhood of Creggan, Moore’s blindness was the result of a rubber bullet fired into his face by a British soldier in 1972 when Moore was 10. His only infraction was running home by an unauthorized route, past a military outpost set up to quell the city’s civil unrest.

The moment the bullet hit Moore’s face, it changed his life forever — for the better, he believes. Now in his mid-60s, he is a successful pub owner who founded the global charity Children in Crossfire, which helps children in communities struggling with poverty.

“I actually had no anger, no bitterness, no hatred for the person who shot me,” Moore said, his eyes shaded behind dark glasses as he shared his story July 1. Anglican Consultative Council members, on a pilgrimage to his city, listened inside Derry’s historic St. Augustine’s Church as Moore described how he eventually found and met the man who shot him in 2006, and how he forgave the man. They are now friends.

To be filled with such happiness after such adversity, forgiveness is the reason, Moore said. “Forgiveness is a gift that you give to yourself.”

His story provided a poignant human element to the ACC’s daylong pilgrimage, scheduled midway through its June 28-July 4 meeting. The ACC is meeting the rest of this week in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. The rest of the island is the Republic of Ireland. The Anglican pilgrimage to Derry frequently invoked the theme of reconciliation in the context of ongoing Irish efforts in the city and across Ireland’s divided island to maintain the peace that was established in 1998 after three decades of violence.

Derry, a Northern Ireland border city,  was the site of some of the worst violence between Catholic nationalists, who wanted independence and greater civil rights, and Protestant unionists, who were loyal to the United Kingdom.

Irish Archbishop John McDowell, whose Anglican Church of Ireland spans the entire island, told Episcopal News Service that some of the old divisions still exist in Derry. Today, Irish nationalism is the majority sentiment here, he said, and even the city’s name can provoke controversy. Londonderry is the more formal name, reflecting British influence dating to the early 1600s, though residents often prefer Derry, which is closer to the original Irish “Doire.”

Even now, the city is “still coming out of conflict,” McDowell said. “It was difficult to end the war, but it takes a completely new set of skills to make the peace.”

Derry residents are also known for their exuberant hospitality, as they demonstrated to the ACC representatives from 37 worldwide Anglican provinces, including The Episcopal Church, who traveled from Belfast by coach buses. They arrived at a former military facility that had been converted to a hotel and conference center called The Ebrington. Volunteers from the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe, many wearing neon yellow reflective vests, greeted them in a long welcome line that threaded into the building.

Every handshake was paired with a broad smile and a greeting in the local way: “You’re very welcome.”

Smile. Handshake. “You’re very welcome!” Smile. Handshake. “You’re very welcome!”

The welcome line led to a ballroom, where Derry Bishop Andrew Forster gave the ACC visitors his own warm welcome. “You’re not the first pilgrims to come to this place,” he said. “The city’s been here since 546,” when St. Columba planted churches around the region.

“This city has a reputation for being a place of division,” Forster said. Now at peace, it is writing a better history. “We’re called to be reconcilers in a sectarian environment. … Our experience on this island is that peace is always a fragile thing. We have to handle it with care.”

With the Anglican pilgrims ready to tour the city, lead tour guide Jim O’Hagan warned of rain in the forecast. While providing safety instructions, he also shared his own excitement at the presence of more than 100 bishops, other clergy and lay leaders from across the Anglican Communion.

“I’m a proud Derryman, and like all proud Derrymen, we like nothing more than sharing our city with visitors,” said O’Hagan, executive director of Veritas Tours.

The ACC members were divided into four groups to begin their walking tour of central Derry. Starting on the east bank of the River Foyle, they learned about the Peace Bridge and then crossed the bridge on foot to the west side.

The city’s Catholic and Protestant populations had once been more integrated, before the start of The Troubles in about 1968. After civil unrest and nationalist violence were met by British crackdowns, residents began relocating to sectarian enclaves on either side of the river, said the Rev. David McBeth, a minister from All Saints Anglican Church in Derry who was leading one of the pilgrim groups.

Today, the footbridge serves as both a symbolic and a functional structure, “to join the Catholic community and the Protestant community together again,” McBeth said.

On the west side, the ACC members made their way to the city’s Guildhall, an 1890 structure that serves as a civic center and a repository of local history. During The Troubles, it was the site of some civil rights protests and, in 1972, was damaged by a nationalist terror bombing. Now restored, it hosted the ACC for lunch. Local officials gave brief speeches of welcome.

After lunch, the ACC members pulled on raincoats and clasped umbrellas to brave the rain and walk along the top of Derry’s massive stone walls. They were built in the early 1600s by the British to protect their economic interests from outside attacks. This part of Derry now is a point of local pride and a popular tourist attraction, one of the few historic walled cities still intact.

The pilgrims soon reached St. Augustine’s Church, also known as “the Wee Church on the Walls.” The 1872 building is on a site that predates the walls and is believed to be connected to Derry’s founding in St. Columba’s time.

Inside, the ACC members filled the church’s pews to hear Moore’s story of being shot 54 years ago. “My face was a bloody mess,” he said, but he survived and, in many ways, thrived. “Life was great. Life is great,” he said.

Moore said he decided to seek out the soldier who shot him because he realized he had a connection with that man. With the help of a BBC documentary crew, he identified the former soldier as Charles Innes, now living in Scotland. They arranged a meeting near the airport in Edinburgh. Innes initially was skeptical, not knowing Moore’s motivation, but after some awkwardness, they talked for five hours before Moore had to leave for the airport.

Moore calls it one of “the most amazing days of my life.” He and Innes, now in his 80s, have kept in contact and eventually visited each other’s homes. They are sometimes invited to speak together at events that highlight their unexpected friendship and what it can teach about reconciliation.

That wasn’t an obvious outcome, Moore acknowledged to the ACC members. He was fortunate to have the support of family and friends during his recovery and his years persevering through blindness. “I’ve been on the receiving end of so much love and compassion in my life,” he said.

From St. Augustine’s, the ACC pilgrims had a short walk to their final stop at St. Columb’s Cathedral. Looking out from the walls, a dense neighborhood was visible on a hillside to the east. In the valley, murals commemorated Derry’s struggle for peace.

O’Hagan, the tour guide, said the mostly Catholic neighborhood known as Bogside was the site of the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1972, one of the deadliest episodes of violence during The Troubles. Civil rights protesters were marching through Bogside when British troops opened fire, killing 13 and injuring 15 more.

Derry has come a long way since then, O’Hagan said. “Today we’re in a better place, thank goodness.”

At St. Columb’s, a special service was held to mark the ACC’s visit. Before it concluded, Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally rose to speak briefly about the experience of the day.

“It has been very significant for us to walk in Derry, to listen to the story of peace and reconciliation in Derry,” she said. “It has been a reminder to me how peace, reconciliation and forgiveness start with us. Our prayers are very much with you in Derry, and we’d be grateful for you to pray for us in our journey of reconciliation, forgiveness and peace.”

Forster, the Derry bishop, responded with gratitude.

“Your presence has blessed us much, much more than you could ever imagine,” he said.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.