Prayers for Jo Cox - a 21st century Good Samaritan

Banner reads: 'We'll carry Jo's banner of love'

Faith communities around the UK gathered to pray for slain MP Jo Cox over the weekend. There is now a sea of flowers and candles in Parliament Square, London, where crowds took part in vigils on Friday and Saturday.

At St Peter's Church in Birstall, Yorkshire, on Sunday, a packed congregation heard Reverend Paul Knight say that Jo Cox was someone who went out of her way to help others and said her humanity was "powerful and compelling.. We would do well to recognise her as an amazing example of a 21st century Good Samaritan," he said.

Rev Knight said the MP for Batley and Spens was such a fervent advocate of the poor and the oppressed, she must have felt angry at times at what she saw around the world - but she "fought with a passion and a dancing smile."

"There is much wickedness in our world, but thank God there is so much goodness."

The parish also prayed for the speedy recovery of 77-year-old Bernard Kenny, who is recovering in hospital from injuries he suffered when he tried to save Jo.

One reader said: "We are the poorer for the loss of Jo and the loss of what she would have done, but richer for what she did do. May her memory stand for all in public life." Another said they were still reeling from the death of Mrs Cox. "The horror of this has been felt all around the world."

Besides her constituency work, the Labour MP campaigned for many human rights issues, including Syrian refugees and justice for Palestinians. She supported the Remain campaign in the forthcoming EU Referendum.