A typical classroom scene at a primary school in Pakistan. Photo: UNESCO/Akhtar Soomro/UN News Service
Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, called for prayers for the families of the 132 children and nine staff members killed in the Dec. 16 attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan.
In the midst of a visit with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Hiltz said he and Archdeacon Paul Feheley joined Welby in remembering the victims at a service of morning prayer at Lambeth Palace in London.
“As the world watches the anguish of grieving parents burying their children, we are left wondering how such evil intent to kill innocent children continues to stalk the earth,” he wrote in a Dec. 17 statement.
“In light of this tragedy, it is hard not to remember that the birth of the Christ Child prompted Herod to order the slaughter of innocent children,” he added, calling for prayers now “for the Holy Innocents of Pakistan.”
The primate described the attack as a “horrific crime against humanity,” and said “let us pray for all the children who have been the innocent victims of terrorist activities that have marred this entire year.”