London priest visiting New Jersey feels sting of terror attacks

Published: 2005-07-13

LONG BRANCH, N.J. (CNS) -- It was a chilling, rude awakening for Msgr. John Arnold when he read the text message on his mobile phone first thing in the morning July 7. The vicar general and chancellor of the Archdiocese of Westminster, England, Msgr. Arnold was shocked to learn of the terrorist bomb attacks in London that day. All four explosions on London buses and subways occurred within the confines of his archdiocese. More than 50 people were killed and more than 700 were injured. Msgr. Arnold was in Long Branch at the Redemptorist-run San Alfonso Retreat Center in the Trenton Diocese, attending the 18th annual International Institute for Clergy Formation as a speaker. He was in touch with his colleagues by phone July 7 in the aftermath of the attack. Officials at his archdiocese were unsure if any parishioners there had been hurt, he said. "Everyone is rather numb," Msgr. Arnold told The Catholic Advocate, newspaper of the Newark Archdiocese. "No doubt this will be a life-changing experience for the people of London."

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