Commenting on today’s announcement in the House of Commons, Presbyterian Moderator, Right Reverend Dr David Bruce said, “For so many innocent people it is impossible to quantify the pain, suffering and generational hurt that they and their families have suffered as a consequence of unwarranted violence visited upon them. Many victims and survivors come from our own Presbyterian family, and as a church, we will take time to review what the Secretary of State has said. We will make fuller comment at a later stage as part of the ongoing engagement. In some of the key principles that were previously committed to, the right of victims and survivors to seek due process and justice in the courts, remains important to many.”
Dr Bruce continued, “We note that today the Secretary of State again referenced the need for reconciliation in Northern Ireland. This has to be more than a passing reference in a statement. The Christian understanding of reconciliation rests upon the coming together of both love and justice. Love sent Christ to be with us. Justice sent Christ to the cross. Both were needed to reconcile us to God. So it is in the realm of human life. Love and justice need to come together, as the foundation of reconciled relationships. Reconciliation is about the work we do now to restore relationships broken by the past, in a way that can lead to a better and shared future for us all.”
Interviewed on BBC Radio Ulster’s Evening Extra programme the following day, 15 July, Dr Bruce expanded on his comments on the Christian understanding of reconciliation and the right of victims and survivors to seek due process and justice in the courts, which were contained in the initial statement. He also spoke about the moral dimension to the government’s announcement, saying that it was “a deep tragedy that we are witnessing.” During the interview he said:
I don’t think that it is particularly surprising that this government has once again unilaterally decided, frankly, how to proceed on an issue that so desperately needs a local, sensitive, compassionate and collaborative approach – locally driven, locally shaped, so I think there is form here, and that has a moral dimension...
Now, as a pastor, I know that you cannot simply draw a line under grief, you can’t legislate it away - grief is visceral, it doesn’t work like that, it can’t be switched on and off, but for those victims and survivors who do seek due process and justice in the courts for their loved ones, perfectly entitled to do, this remains important for them and I believe will help them in their journey. This should certainly not be denied them, and there is a moral deficient created if this is legislated away as it appears to be done, particularly in paragraph 34 of the command document. It not only denies them of any chance of justice, whatever the likelihood and slim chances of a prosecution, it also profoundly denies them of hope, and from a pastor’s point of view this is, I suppose, my primary concern here.
Obviously we have studied the Command Paper, there are some good things in it, let’s be open about that, but it is very scant on detail when it comes to the truth and recovery process, which is one of the four key principles previously committed to by government. It also says little about meaningful and genuine reconciliation for that matter, which is disappointing.
Dr Bruce also said that the announcement had “caused the deepest distress” to many victims and survivors.
You can listen to the full interview below. We would like to thank the BBC, and Evening Extra, for their kind permission to allow us to use this interview. Dr Bruce was interviewed alongside Father Eddie Magee of the Diocese of Down and Connor by presenters Declan Harvey and Jennifer O’Leary.