In London, people offer moments of silence for bombing victims

Published: 2005-07-14

LONDON (CNS) -- London's bishops gathered on the steps of the city's Westminster Cathedral to observe two minutes of silence in memory of the 53 people killed by terrorist blasts. At noon July 14, the tolling of Edward -- the giant cathedral bell named after St. Edward the Confessor, England's patron saint -- signaled the moment when the capital ground to a halt as Londoners remembered the victims of the July 7 suicide bomb attacks on three Underground stations and a bus. A crowd of about 3,000 people assembled on the square outside the cathedral. They were joined by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster and Auxiliary Bishops George Stack, Alan Hopes and Bernard Longley. In the stillness that swiftly descended upon the city, people bowed their heads, and the only sounds that could be heard were the sobs of those mourning the dead. In Les Combes, Italy, where Pope Benedict XVI began his vacation July 11, the pontiff also observed the two-minute silence and offered special prayers during his daily recitation of the Angelus at noon.

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