The half a million “citizens of Manchester and members of the Catholic community are united in condemning the attack on the crowds at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena”. With these words the Catholic Bishop John Arnold, who serves the Diocese of Salford to which the city of Manchester belongs, expressed the horror of the faithful and of all citizens. “Such an attack can have no justification”, Bishop Arnold continued, also thanking “the emergency services for their prompt and speedy response which saved lives”. “We join in prayer for all those who have died and for the injured and their families and all affected by this tragedy”. “We must all commit – the Bishop went on to say – to working together, to help the victims and their families and to build and strengthen our community solidarity”. The Diocese of Salford, with some 300,000 Catholics, is one of the largest in the United Kingdom. Like Liverpool, it welcomed thousands of Irish immigrants at the end of the 18th century who gave new life to a Church that had almost disappeared after the Reformation of Henry VIII.