Dignity and soft tears from mourners facing harsh reality
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.There were no cries for vengeance from the pulpit, no extravagant tears or grandiose expressions of self-pity.
There were no cries for vengeance from the pulpit, no extravagant tears or grandiose expressions of self-pity. As hundreds of government officials, church leaders, foreign dignitaries and relatives and friends of the dead came together at Sydney's Anglican cathedral yesterday – the first formal ceremony to mourn Australia's losses from the bombing – the tone was instead one of sobering reality and remarkable restraint.
The pews at St Andrew's Cathedral were filled to overflowing for the lunchtime service, and the congregation included several relatives and friends of at least one man confirmed to be among the dead – a 26-year-old rugby league player for the Coogee Dolphins team from just outside Sydney, called Adam Howard.
Such was the dignity of the occasion that at first few people could tell who had been directly affected by the bombing and who had simply wandered in on their lunchbreak. Only when the opening strains of "Amazing Grace" were struck up by the Royal Australian Air Force Air Command Band did tears begin to flow and mourners offer each other gentle hugs around the shoulder.
"We will not offer any easy explanations of evil," the acting dean of the cathedral, John McIntosh, announced in his opening address, and indeed the service was remarkable for its refusal to pander to simplistic notions of good versus bad, or us versus them.
Australia has so far responded to its calamity with deep shock but little or no aggressive instinct. Yesterday's keynote reading, from Paul's letter to the Romans, was delivered by the governor of New South Wales, Marie Bashir, and it was all about rejecting vengeance. "If your enemies are hungry," Dr Bashir read, "feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink."
President George Bush said earlier this week that those who blew up the two clubs in Bali were "without souls, without a conscience" – the sort of rhetoric that has become common currency in the US over the past year. But that was not the line taken by Robert Forsyth, the Bishop of Sydney. "It wasn't 'terrorism' which did this," he said in his sermon, "it was people who did this ... It was committed by people – like us."
Last night, 30 Australians were confirmed dead, with another 140 unaccounted for. A national day of mourning has been declared for this Sunday.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments