''There will be a healing out of this.'' These were the emotional words of an elated Bishop Edward Daly who told The Irish Catholic that he was ''delighted and relieved'' at Tuesday's publication of Lord Saville's report into the events of Bloody Sunday.
''It is a wonderful day and the families have behaved in such a dignified way and have been indefatigable in their search for truth and justice.''
Bishop Daly was among the thousands of people who gathered at Derry's Guildhall on Tuesday to see British Prime Minister David Cameron apologise for what he said were the 'unjustified and unjustifiable' killings of that fateful day on January 30, 1972.
''It is a burden off my shoulders,'' he said. ''For 38 years, it has been a heavy burden at times,'' while saying he had been ''quite taken'' by Cameron's statement which he listened to in the company of the family of John Duddy, who was shot dead on Bloody Sunday and who Fr Daly tried to get to safety as he waved a blood-stained white hanky.
Church of Ireland Bishop for the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe, Ken Good praised the conduct of Bishop Daly: ''I spoke with Bishop Daly on Tuesday and he was understandably quite emotional. I must pay tribute to him and how he has always behaved. He kept silent at the right times and spoke out at the right times.''
Bishop Good -- who described the day as ''very moving but peaceful'' -- also praised the 'dignity' of the families of the dead.
''They were under huge pressure in the build up to the publication of this report and have always been very welcoming of me.
"I think closure might be too strong a word for it but this gives a new sense of hope for the future and hopefully it will be of comfort. It is as if a cloud or a shadow has been hanging over the city of Derry all these years, but today that has been lifted and hopefully now the community will move forward and progress.''
CofI Archbishop of Armagh, Rev. Alan Harper said he hoped people could now learn from the lessons of the past: ''My hope is that this will help us to build and sustain a better future for all our people and that neither bitterness nor disappointment will be allowed to blight our future. May God bless all the people of Ireland, inspire its governments and heal the hurts and memories of its peoples.''
Denis Bradley, a former priest who also walked the streets of Derry on that day, said ''God is smiling on this city'', and the report's publication was ''the beginning of healing''.