By Kathi Stearns, Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Archbishop Eusebius Beltran, the Catholic leader of Oklahoma City, joined Billy graham, President Clinton and 20,000 mourners for the victims lost in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

The theme of the prayer service on this national day of mourning came from Psalm 147:3, “He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.”

“We hope to have begun a healing stage today.” Archbishop Beltran said in a telephone interview that night with The Georgia Bulletin. “Certainly there is still a lot of shock, and it will endure for a long time, especially for those families who have lost a loved one, but they have as yet no visible, tangible proof of their loss, just an emptiness.”

“I just don’t think it is possible or realistic to think the rescuers will ever find all the bodies. This is probably one of the greatest tragedies the country has ever seen,” the archbishop said.

During the prayer service families of the adult victims were given yellow roses while parents of the children were given teddy bears. “It was a very beautiful prayer service,” Archbishop Beltran said. “It was very positive and quite spiritually uplifting. It was a unifying experience for all of us.”

Archbishop Beltran, a former priest of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, learned of the bombing while in Atlanta visiting his brother, Father Joe Beltran, who is hospitalized with malaria. “I was in my car driving downtown when I heard the report,” he said.

Archbishop Beltran believes that everyone’s life has been touched by this tragedy. “Every parish I’ve visited has lost somebody,” the archbishop said. “A man came up to me today and said his mother was missing in the rubble. He reminded me that I had lunch with her last week. And we already know six parishioners at St. John in Edmond, (Oklahoma) have lost their lives; unfortunately we know these numbers are going to keep growing.”

In spite of the tragedy Archbishop Beltran is proud and grateful to the members of his Catholic community who have come together to provide assistance for the victims and their families. “We have a super abundance of people wanting to do something,” the archbishop said. “That is what is making the difference.”

“We have our priests on 24-hour duty both down at the morgue and at the rescue center where the people are waiting for information about their relatives,” the archbishop said. “We want to ensure that there is always a priest available.”

In addition, Catholic Charities is providing translation assistance, death certificates, food and shelter to families of victims. “As we see a family with a need, we will try to help them anyway we can whether that be something tangible or prayer or just listening,” Archbishop Beltran said.

The archbishop also praised the medical staff of St. Anthony’s, a Catholic hospital in Oklahoma City which took in the first victims.

According to the archbishop two church facilities sustained considerable structural damage during the bombing. The Catholic Charities building had 16 large plate glass windows blown out while Old St. Joseph’s Cathedral, which is located a block away from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, sustained extensive damage including the loss if its stained glass windows.

“We can’t even get into the cathedral,” the archbishop said. “All we have been able to do is board it up.”

Yet he asked the Archdiocese of Atlanta for prayer only at this time. “Honestly, damage to these building is inconsequential when there are so many people injured and so many families suffering. That is the damage with which we are primarily concerned.”

Even through Attorney General Janet Reno has vowed that the government will seek the death penalty for those responsible for the bombing, Archbishop Beltran says he would oppose such a decision. “I’ve written against the death penalty in the past, and I’ll do it again,” he said. :I will stand firm in that decision.”

As bodies are pulled from the rubble and victims’ families begin to plan funerals, Archbishop Beltran feels that tension and exhaustion may take over. “People are so tired,” the archbishop said. “We have a very hard week ahead of us. As the death count continues to rise and as the funerals begin people are going to have to rely on their faith. The only way we are going to be able to overcome our anger, our bitterness and our hatred and really get on with our lives is to allow faith to sustain us.