THE Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope, today addressed a service of remembrance at York Minster today. Here are some of his key conclusions on the catastrophe that struck America this week:

"It was - as with all of us I suspect - that on Tuesday afternoon and evening I listened - and later watched - with increasing incredulity the reports of the terrorist attack on New York City as they were flashed from the United States of America.

"We could hardly believe what we were seeing before our very eyes. Yes, we had watched the horror movies, the stuff that imagination and fiction are made of - the Towering Inferno and such like, but we never ever believed we would witness such things in reality.

"Yet on Tuesday, 11 September, 2001, we watched precisely that - as the clouds of dense black smoke rose from Manhattan Island it began to resemble something akin to a doomsday scenario - Armageddon in our very midst.

"We live in times which have become increasingly complex, confrontational and belligerent.

"The events of this last week have certainly shaken New York City and the people of America to their core; they have shaken the whole world - the very fact that such an event could happen in actuality in this 21st century. "Of course, there is the determination and the resolve to restore, to renew and to rebuild. There must surely also be a determination for a concerted action on the part of all the nations of the world to eradicate the increasingly menacing danger of terrorism.

"The headline in The Times newspaper on Thursday morning was that "Good will prevail over evil."

"That is the clear and unequivocal message of the Gospel. It is the faith of Christian people everywhere and at all times - in the words of St Paul: "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good".

Updated: 12:38 Saturday, September 15, 2001