A week ago, they were supposed to be coming home. Now hundreds have gathered in Melbourne to remember them, united in grief over the scale of the tragedy.
The deaths of all 298 people on board Malaysia Airlines flight 17 brought together leaders from all religions on Thursday as a multi-faith service filled St Paul’s Cathedral.
Thirty-seven daffodils were also laid on the steps of the church, one for every Australian victim of the downed aircraft.
‘‘Australia mourns the loss of her children, 37 daffodils to represent your beautiful spirits,’’ the card reads. ‘‘May you find sunshine on heaven.’’
Victoria faced the largest death toll in the country. Among the Victorians killed were Shaliza Dewa and Johannes van den Hende and their children Piers, Marnix and Margaux, who lived in Eynesbury.
He was Dutch and she was Malaysian, and seven years ago they moved to Australia, choosing to raise their three children in Melbourne’s suburbs.
Children who went to school with the van den Hende children attended the service in uniform.
The family of Sunbury real estate agent Albert Rizk and wife Maree, who died on MH17, also attended the service.
Mr Rizk’s sister carried a bouquet that formed the pair’s initials while several teammates of their son James wore Sunbury Football Club colours.
“This was uplifting,” Dorina Rizk said. “We’ve been very angry in the past week. We want them back home.”
From a pew at the back of cathedral, Pam from Hampton said though she did not know anyone on MH17, she too came to find solace and pay her respects.
“I think it might bring me peace,” she said. “It has been feeling wrong to lead an ordinary life.”
Reverend Dr Philip Freier, Anglican Primate of Australia, said much has changed in the past seven days.
‘‘We could not have imagined that we would be gathering here today,’’ he told those gathered inside the packed cathedral.
‘‘A week ago, those that boarded flight MH17 had only the ordinary concerns that come with the anticipation of travel.’’
But mourners can find comfort after so much death and destruction through prayer and hope, he said.
His message was shared among Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish leaders.
Sheikh Moustapha Sarakibi, Imam from the Islamic Council of Victoria, said in prayer: ‘‘Forgive our people who are still alive and those who have passed away.’’
Buddhist Council of Victoria Venerable Hojun Futen added: ‘‘May all beings without exception be released from suffering and find true happiness and everlasting peace.’’
“We look for hope in the midst of so much despair,” said Reverend Dr Philip Freier.
In his sermon, Reverend Dr Freier said there had been little comfort and respect for the victims of MH17, whose innocent lives collided with a conflict on the other side of the world.
“Even in death a proper and dignified response has struggled to find a place in the midst of a violent separatist war,” he said.
Also among the mourners was Premier Denis Napthine and Victorian Governor Alex Chernov.
Dr Napthine read from a poem written by Henry van Dyke, an American of Dutch descent.
‘‘In all that they achieved, and for all that might have been, in the dawn of day and at the setting of the sun, we will remember them,’’ he said.
Hundreds more watched the service on a big screen at Federation Square.
After the one-hour service, Dr Napthine said he had spoken with some of the families and shared in their grief and anger. He joined calls for the bodies of all Australian victims – including the 18 Victorians – be brought home at once.
“The families have expressed that they are very anxious to have the bodies returned to Australia as soon as possible so they can grieve privately and have funerals,” he said.
But some families will face the “added tragedy” of not having bodies at all, he said.
Dr Napthine then lashed out at the looting and “desecration” of the 50-square-kilometre MH17 crash site in Ukraine.
The site has still not been secured because it is in separatist-controlled territory.
He said this was an insult to all those who have lost loved ones in the tragedy.
– With Nick Toscano, Tammy Mills, Liam Mannix
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