Reaction to bombing in Pakistan

Radio and internet news reports this morning carry reactions from around the world to yesterday's bombing in Islamabad. The most common word I have heard so far to describe these reactions is "outrage". International reaction seems to be rallying in support of the commitment of Pakistan's own political leadership to resist terrorism as it is manifested in events like yesterday's.

What is an appropriate Christian reaction to yesterday's bombing?

My first thought is to step back from the particular political or social context and recognise that we have just seen an act of immense evil: (1) if it was a suicide attack as is being suggested, then it was launched with a total disregard by the perpetrators for their own lives and, possibly, with total disregard by terrorist leaders for the lives of their own; (2) the attack appears to have been launched at a time when the Marriott Hotel would be at its busiest, as local people were breaking their Ramadan fast, thereby trying to cause the largest possible number of casualties; (3) the attack was to a large extent indiscriminate in who it targeted. And so on ...

A Christian response to evil is, in the first instance, to do good. This might take the form of charitable response to those affected by the evil - care for survivors and bereaved relatives, for example. It might also include the supporting of prudent steps to bring about the safety of a country's citizens, a political response. But it should also involve a resistance to evil at a spiritual level - prayer, penance and fasting. And this not just in the country immediately affected by the evil, but everywhere.

In the same way that there is a kind of "communion of evil" there is also a "communion of good" (a communion of spiritual goods among all members of the Church, which can be shared beyond the Church to all) so our conviction is that such prayer, penance and fasting are efficacious.

During the Eucharistic Congress earlier this year, I shared in a discussion about Eucharistic Adoration in the context of tragic events like those in Islamabad yesterday. We asked ourselves: is it our natural reaction in these circumstances to gather in our Churches before the Holy Eucharist to implore the Lord's mercy and forgiveness for what has happened?

Even if your parish has not time of Eucharistic Adoration on a Sunday afternoon, perhaps today would be a good day to make your own visit of reparation for yesterday's evil.

A particular poignancy is added to this by the persecution experienced by Christians in Pakistan, usually at the hands of Islamic extremists and on specious pretexts. Again, there is a manifestation of evil that needs to be resisted in a spiritual way.