Joint burial (From The Oxford Times)

Joint burial

8:30am Thursday 3rd May 2012 in Letters

Sir – I am very glad to know that the nine 16th and 17th-century bodies, uncovered 20 years ago by archaeologists at Eynsham Abbey, are to receive proper burials rather than continuing to languish in an archaeology storeroom (Report, April 19). However, I am concerned by Reverend Flatman’s insistence that they are given purely Roman Catholic burials.

Five hundred years after their deaths, none of us can possibly be certain that we have a window into these men and women’s souls, except for the very strong likelihood that they were all Christians.

Rather than fanning the flames of Christian division and enmity wouldn’t it be much better if Reverend Flatman could join together with his Church of England, Methodist and Baptist brothers and sisters, in Eynsham, to hold a joint Christian burial service, so that these nine Oxfordshire ancestors of ours can finally rest in peace?

Richard Samuelson, Middle Barton