Mumbai bishop: "I prayed God may illuminate those who generate violence"
Together with 13 other bishops and the entire city, Mgr Penha, Archdiocescan Administrator of Mumbai, stood in silent prayer to commemorate the victims of the 11 July attacks. The bishops called for understanding and peace.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) Prayer, weeping and recalling the victims of terrorist hatred "should enlighten men and women, so they may see that violence only generates more violence and that everyone loses out in this morass of devastation". This was the thrust of the prayer of Mgr Bosco Penha, Archdiocescan Administrator of Mumbai, who, together with the rest of city, stood in silence on 18 July to commemorate the 182 victims of the attack against the city's western railways.
He said: "I prayed that this silence of our beloved motherland may awaken the voice of faith and truth in all humankind. Let us cry out to God, with all our hearts, in these painful times, when forces of darkness have left a trail of death and destruction through this senseless violence."
"Let us cry out to God that he may enlighten men and women, and help them to see that violence does not bring peace, but only generates more violence -- a morass of devastation in which everyone is ultimately the loser."
Another 13 bishops gathered to pray with Mgr Penha. They were in the capital of Maharashtra for the meeting of the Western Region Bishops, which was held at St Pius X College Campus in Goregaon [a neighbourhood in the north of Mumbai]. When 196 sirens went off together at 6.24pm, the bishops stood in silence to commemorate the victims of 11 July.
Bishop Thomas Dabre, Bishop of Vasai, a district to the North of Mumbai, lost 50 people from his diocese in the bomb attack :"I prayed for peace and understanding, that we all work for a society free of cruelty and inhumanity, a society where everyone respects the rights of the other. The need of the hour is to create a dialogue with peoples of all faiths, to create a climate of tolerance. Terrorism is an evil with its divisive ideologies and it needs to be countered by a society which believes in spiritual values which has its roots in faith in God: He teaches peace, unity and harmony with humankind and nature."
He continued: "In my diocese, I visited every family where there was death as a result of the bomb blasts: it was devastating and the pain for some may never go away. Together with other priests, I visited hospitals to comfort the injured. We also organized an inter-religious peace march followed by an inter-faith prayer meeting which was attended by about 5,000 people."
Fr. P. Xavier Rector of the Velankanni Shrine in Tamil Nadu, known as 'Lourdes of the East', said : "We prayed very specially for those in mourning, we organized a chain-prayer in the Perpetual Adoration Chapel at the Shrine that Our Lady may grant peace and consolation to them. On 16 July, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a group of 5,000 pilgrims visited the shrine from Mumbai and prayed for the victims of and their families."
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24/01/2019 15:47
