I have no answers, but I cannot understand how people who claim to be members of a Christian church, whether protestant or catholic, can use their religion as an excuse for their hatred of each other. The whole point of the Christian religion is we are told above all else 'to love one another as I have loved you'. Forgiveness is also required of every single Christian. The prayer we were given to use asks 'forgive us our sins as we forgive others'. Hatred and enmity have no part in Christian life, no matter how you have been treated in the past. It isn't easy, of course not, but we are promised that we don't have to go through it alone.
I have just spent the day in Coventry. Following the bombing of the mediaeval Cathedral in 1940, Provost Howard had the words ‘Father Forgive’ inscribed on the wall behind the Altar of the ruined building. The people of Coventry decided on reconciliation instead of hatred, they have developed close ties with Germany.
I especially liked the prayer for reconciliation which is prayed each week:
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class,
Father, forgive.
The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own,
Father, forgive.
The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth,
Father, forgive.
Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others,
Father, forgive.
Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee,
Father, forgive.
The lust which dishonours the bodies of men, women and children,
Father, forgive.
The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God,
Father, forgive.
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if that prayer was said in each school in NI each week, and in each Church?