The Church of Ireland Primate, Archbishop Robin Eames, has said that no police force in Western Europe had been asked to pay such a price as the RUC.
"Since 1969 some 302 members of the RUC have been killed and over 8,300 officers have been injured. What a commentary on the sort of society they sought to protect! Society will never know how many lives were saved by the RUC over the years," he said.
He was speaking at a Thanksgiving Commemoration for the Service of the RUC in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, yesterday.
The history of the RUC was a cameo of the life and attitudes of Northern Ireland, he said. "Often when we have passed judgment on the RUC this community was passing judgment on itself. Criticism of the RUC was often criticism of the sort of society we had allowed to develop. When we placed the RUC between warring factions we were asking its members to solve problems we had created."
He looked forward to the day when every section of society could have a feeling of ownership for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and each part of society could encourage membership of the PSNI.
