NEXT Monday evening, January 27, at 7pm, there will be a Holocaust Memorial Ceremony in the Town Hall to which all members of the public are invited.

The purpose of the ceremony is to remember all those who lost their lives in the genocides that took place under the Nazis during the Second World War. The Jews were the principal victims, but other groups such as gypsies, gay and lesbian people, and the disabled, also suffered equally horrible fates.

The Ceremony will also remind us of other genocides. The genocide of aboriginal people in Tasmania in Australia, and in North America in which the British took part. We are also reminded of genocides against Muslim peoples in the Balkans and against Kurdish people in the Middle East. This is why some people would rather we call January 27 Genocide Memorial Day.

Genocide is the attempt to wipe out a whole people. This was Hitler's aim in Nazi Germany, it has also been the aim of rulers both more ancient and more recent. Whenever genocide occurs, it is a terrible event not just because of the suffering but, because it attempts to wipe out a whole people and their memory from the earth.

January 27 this year is also poignant because it is the day when Hans Blix reports to the United Nations on his progress on weapons inspection in Iraq. Many think that the Americans will use his report as a trigger for war against Iraq.

We know that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant. We know that he has committed many atrocities. We know that he has even moved towards a genocide of the Kurdish people. But does this give the rest of the world the right to invade Iraq? Some say that we should remove this evil man, others say that it is up to the Iraqi people themselves. One thing is clear, namely that the opinion polls show that most of us are against such a war.

At such times as these, keeping faith in God is both difficult and, at the same time, essential. It is difficult because we are bound to ask why God doesn't step in and prevent such genocides. But keeping faith is important because it is a way of keeping hope alive for the future and keeping up our energy to work for a better world.

Many people think that religious leaders such as myself never struggle with issues of faith and doubt. But we do struggle. Faith comes no more easily to us than to anyone else when we see such atrocities in the world.

Michael Williams

Vicar of Bolton Parish Church