The Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham yesterday called for the perpetrators of the bombings that killed 21 people and injured hundreds 30 years ago to take responsibility for the atrocities as the first step towards reconciliation.
Delivering the sermon at a memorial service for the victims of the twin pub bombings, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, without naming the IRA, offered a prayer that those responsible "acknowledge their deeds and take a step towards reconciliation".
The IRA is believed to have been behind the bombings that devastated The Tavern and the Mulberry Bush pubs on the night of November 21st, 1974, which led to widespread reprisal attacks on the large Irish community in the Midlands city.
The horrific events of that evening are regarded as the worst in Birmingham's history and many in the city of one million still believe the IRA should admit its involvement and apologise.
The memorial service, held in the Anglican St Philip's Cathedral in Birmingham and attended by around 250 people, aimed to honour all the victims - not only those who were killed, but the friends and family they left behind, and the survivors, many of whom still carry the emotional and physical scars.
In his eulogy, Archbishop Nichols emphasised the importance of reconciliation in what appeared to be an attempt to bridge divisions past and present within the city.
Lives had been destroyed that night "in a most brutal fashion that no cause could ever justify," he said. "We come to pray for those whose lives were brutally cut short, to pray for their families and for those who for 30 years have had to live with the memories of that day.
"These bombings took place in a city of God. Nothing is hidden from His sight.
"Just as all that is deserving is in the sight of God, nothing is hidden and nothing horrific goes unpunished," Archbishop Nichols said.
"This is God's justice and this is the final judgment that awaits us all.
"Respect, justice and forgiveness are the building bricks of peace," he said.
He addressed the wrongful imprisonment of the Irishmen who came to be known as the Birmingham Six - Mr Hugh Callaghan, Mr Paddy Hill, Mr Gerard Hunter, Mr Richard McIlkenny, Mr William Power and Mr John Walker - who were convicted of the bombings in 1975 and released 16 years later when their convictions were overturned.
Archbishop Nichols attributed profound reforms to the British judicial system to the events of 30 years ago as the elusive silver lining to the pointless violence.
The service is likely to be the last official memorial tribute to the victims of the bombings, said the lord mayor, Mr Michael Nangle, who was born in Portadown and moved to Birmingham in 1954.
"It is the wish of the relatives that it is the last time, it is heart-breaking to keep bringing people back," he said as he laid a wreath of "21 lilies for 21 innocents" on the memorial stone in the cathedral grounds.