THE families of the victims of the July 7 suicide bombings were told yesterday that their grief and pain was a powerful weapon against terrorism.

Members of all but one of the 52 bereaved families attended a national service of remembrance yesterday at St Paul’s Cathedral where they were led in mourning by the Queen.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, told the congregation of Britons of all faiths and colours that their sense of loss was a denial of the terrorists’ mindset.

The Archbishop said: “Even our grief on an occasion like today becomes an action that is prophetic, challenging, an action that resists terror.

“To those who proclaim by their actions that it doesn’t matter who suffers, who dies, we say by our mourning, ‘No. There are no generalities for us, no anonymous and interchangeable people. We live by loving what is special, unique in each person. Everyone matters’.”

The Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers and politicans were among the congregation of 2,300.

But the gathering in the cathedral was dominated by the families of the bus and Tube passengers who died in the four blasts and almost 900 people who suffered injuries ranging from loss of limbs to cuts, bruises and shock.

There were also representatives of the police, ambulance and fire services, hospital staff, transport workers and many ordinary people who did extraordinary things on what one clergyman called “that dark day”. They included men such as Steve Goszka, the station manager at Edgware Road, who was among the first to help the injured underground.

“I’m proud to be here today, proud to know that we saved lives that day, but I’m here because it’s about remembering those who didn’t make it,” said Mr Goszka, 47.

St Paul’s has been, for 300 years, the place where Britain has marked historic events in the life of the nation. The funerals of Lord Nelson and Sir Winston Churchill were held here, monarchs have celebrated their jubilee years and thanks have been given for victory in war.

But this was supposed to be a different kind of service. Christopher Wren’s great English church played host to an event that represented all the cultures of 21st century London.

Of the people who died, 36 were British citizens but the other 16 came from countries as far apart as Poland, Afghanistan and Mauritania. All had made London their home.

This was a Christian service in a Christian cathedral in which Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and Buddhists participated and a Roman Catholic cardinal shared an altar with a black clergywoman.

The themes of hope and remembrance were symbolised by the carrying of candles, representing each of the four bomb sites — Aldgate, Edgware Road, King’s Cross and Tavistock Square — to the altar and the lighting of another candle by six children of different faiths.

The Dean of St Paul’s, Dr John Moses, said in his bidding prayer that the congregation had come “to affirm the unity of this nation, the integrity of this great city and the resolve of countless men and women of different faiths and cultures to live together in peace”.

But there were times when the language seemed to veer into a stilted political correctness, notably when a gathering of “faith leaders” vowed to make the “fostering of mutual trust between communities . . . an enduring reality”.

Some felt the event did not reflect their raw emotions. Brian Carroll, whose best friend, Ciaran Cassidy, 22, died at King’s Cross, thought it was “full of airs and graces”. He said: “Given that so many young people died. I don’t think the service represented them at all.”

The reason for the nonattendance of one family has not been explained, but there is continuing anger among the bereaved and the injured over issues such as the Iraq war — which some see as the root cause of the bombings — and inadequate compensation.

Those concerns were reflected by the Gray children from Ipswich, Suffolk, whose father, Richard, 41, died in the Aldgate blast. Ruby, 7, presented a posy to the Queen on the steps of St Paul’s, but her brother, Adam, 11, refused to come to the service because of his anger at Tony Blair.

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