The Mexican Episcopal Conference has expressed its deepest dismay and sorrow over the massacre perpetrated last Friday, June 13, in Benue State where more than 200 people were brutally murdered while sleeping.
The conference says, “These events, marked by inhuman violence, cry out to heaven and move us as a Church to lift up a fervent prayer for the eternal rest of our brothers and sisters who lost their lives, for the prompt recovery of the wounded, and for the consolation of the families left torn by grief”.
The conference position is contained in a statement issued in Spanish and signed by its President Ramón Castro Castro, Bishop of Cuernavaca and Secretary general, Héctor M. Pérez Villarreal Auxiliary Bishop of Mexico from its Mexico City headquarters.
It said in part: “We unite with our brother Bishops of Nigeria and all the People of God who are pilgrims in Africa in this jubilee year of hope, to ask the Lord for the gift of peace and to strongly renew the call for an end to all war, persecution, and religious violence that violates the sacred dignity of every human being.
“We invite all ecclesial communities in Mexico to join in prayer, offering Eucharists and holy hours in memory of the martyrs of Benue, and as a plea for the conversion of hearts hardened by hatred.
“May this time of grace lead us to contemplate with faith and trust the merciful face of Christ, Prince of Peace, so that His charity may inspire us to work tirelessly for reconciliation, forgiveness, and true justice among peoples”.
The statement ended with, “In Christ, our peace”.