St Marie's Church, Seabank Road, Southport, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Hassocks5489 Catholic priests have spoken of being ‘devastated’ at Monday’s stabbings in Southport, which saw three children die, as well as five children and two adults remaining in critical condition.
Liverpool priest Fr Chris Thomas, who was a parish priest in Southport in the 1990s, spoke of his shock at the ‘horrors unleashed’ in the stabbings.
“Southport has long had a special place in my heart,” Fr Chris told The Irish Catholic.
“I have lived there, worked there and prayed there for many years and I, like many others, was devastated by the horrors unleashed there this week. I think that God’s heart must be broken by it.”
The town has been shaken to its core by the attacks, which took place during a Taylor Swift-themed event at Hart Street, Southport, on Monday. A 17-year-old boy from Cardiff was detained by armed police officers after stabbing a number of children and adults at the event. The boy was later arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
American singer Taylor Swift took to Instagram to share her ‘complete shock’ at the news.
“These were just little kids at a dance class,” she wrote. “I’m just completely in shock. I am at a complete loss for how to convey my sympathies to these families.”
Fr Chris Thomas, the Director of the Irenaeus Project in Liverpool, said he intended to ‘trust and hope in the goodness of God to heal and transform even in this, the worst of situations.’
Current Southport priest Fr John Heneghan shared his own ‘heartbreak’ at the news and spoke of the community responding in shock.
“Like everybody else, heartbroken,” he told The Irish Catholic. “I met a woman at the church who couldn’t grasp how such horror could happen. How could somebody do this, she said? Our hearts go out to the parents, the families, the staff who were there-they’ll be traumatised as well.”
Fr Heneghan, who is parish priest of St Marie and St Patrick Catholic Churches in Southport, shared how he wants the Catholic community to respond to the shocking incident.
“Heartbreak is now turning to: how can we help? We need to respond as well as we can to anybody ‘s pain and suffering,” he said.
“Heart speaks to heart, as Pope Benedict said years ago when he came to England. Words have a certain effect, but we communicate in so many other ways-a look of kindness on our faces, a tear in our eyes. That’s care and that’s prayer and that makes a real difference.”
Fr Heneghan said that churches, as well as mosques and synagogues, will be open to help people.
“Our love, our care, our compassion can make a real difference to them and to so many others,” he said.
“If anyone comes, we’ll respond from our hearts as best we can.”
Fr Heneghan organised a special vigil at St Marie’s on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm.