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DUBLIN (AP) — Dublin police are hunting for a masked gunman who robbed worshippers at an evangelical Christian mission, but church leaders say they already have forgiven him.
Witnesses said the man used a sawed-off shotgun to threaten about 40 people, including children, attending Sunday's service at the Compassion Centre in one of Ireland's poorest districts, Ballymun in north Dublin.
Church officials said the man entered during their main Sunday service, threatened to shoot anyone who resisted, ordered one man to collect everyone's valuables in a bag, then demanded keys for a getaway car.
Senior pastor John Eniola said the congregation said prayers for the gunman soon after he had left.
"We pray for him, we forgive him and we would like to see him in church," Eniola said.
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