NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      OMAGH, Northern Ireland (CWNews.com) - Hundreds of thousands of people across Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic paused for a moment of silence on Saturday to mark the one week anniversary of a bombing that killed 28 people and wounded hundreds more. Meanwhile, a republican splinter group pledged to end their campaign of violence.

      More than 20,000 Protestants and Catholics crowded into Omagh's center for a tearful memorial service, and the rest of Ireland paused for a silent minute as they stood in churches, shops, town squares, and stadiums. The leaders of the country's Christian denominations -- Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, and Methodist -- had called for a moment of silence at 3:10 pm, one week after a faction of the Irish Republican Army set off a car bomb in the crowded market center of Omagh.

      The bombers, the so-called Real IRA, claimed last Wednesday that they did not intend to kill the civilians and pledged to intend their armed revolution. Another violent splinter group, the Irish National Liberation Army, joined the cease-fire on Saturday, saying: "Armed struggle can never be the only option for revolutionaries."