Members of the Northern Ireland branch of Remembering Srebrenica group visited Belfast Cathedral on Sunday 16th July 2017. The group met to walk to St Anne’s Cathedral from Belfast City Hall as part of the commemoration of the 22nd anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, a town in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The massacre on 11th July 1995, which took place during the Bosnia War, killed more than 8,000 people. The victims were mainly Muslim men and boys.
The group was accompanied by the Rev Colin Hall-Thompson, Church of Ireland Chaplain to the Mission to Seafarers, Belfast. He was asked to join the Northern Ireland branch of Remembering Srebrenica soon after its establishment last year.
Members of the inter-faith Remembering Srebrenica group visited Belfast Cathedral recently.
Remembering Srebrenica is an inter-faith group which aims to honour the victims of the genocide. Also to learn lessons from those events and to seek to build better, safer and more cohesive communities for all.
As chaplain to the Mission to Seafarers, much of Colin’s work is with people from other faiths.
To mark the anniversary and to honour the memory of the victims of the genocide, the group hosted a commemoration event at Belfast City Hall on 10th July. They were joined there by survivors who spoke about their experiences 22 years ago.
Colin said: “We try to keep the memory of the massacre alive and remember it for the purpose of peace and reconciliation.” Colin visited Srebrenica in May this year with an inter-faith and cross-sectoral delegation. It was led by the Chair of Remembering Srebrenica Northern Ireland, Peter Osborne. Victims’ Commissioner Judith Thompson also took part in the trip.
The visit aimed to remember those who lost their lives in the genocide. Also to learn about the challenges that victims and survivors still experience many years later.
Colin said the commemoration events this month were the first organised by this new Northern Ireland Remembering Srebrenica group. “Where we go from here in terms of promotion remains to be seen. But we have all pledged to be involved in activities to remember Srebrenica and to promote peace and reconciliation,” he said.
Find out more about the Northern Ireland branch of the Remembering Srebrenica group here.
Also find out more about Belfast Cathedral, its services, special events and more on their website here.
