President of the Peruvian Episcopate at Holy Week 2025: Let’s build a country with hope

In the midst of a social climate loaded with uncertainty for the increase in crime and violence, the president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference (CEP), Mons. Carlos García Camader, directed a call to hope and conversion this Holy Week.

“I invite everyone, without distinction of any kind, to nos We compromise to make this Peru a country with hope. Let’s walk together renewing all the mission that God has given us, ”he urged the prelate on April 14.

The publication of the message of the bishop of Lurín, entitled That pain is not bigger than your hope, It coincided with the decision of the Government of Dina Boluarte to extend for 30 days the state of emergency in Lima and Callao, as part of its strategy to face the wave of crime that whips the nation.

The measure, which entered into force on March 18, emerged after Murder of singer Paul FloresMember of the Cumbia Orchestra Harmony 10who was shot when some criminals attacked the musical group bus.

According to the National Computer System of Deaths (SINADEF), until March 18, 2025, 475 homicides were recorded in the country, a figure that exceeds the previous years and evidence that violence is out of control. According to the entity, every four hours there is a homicide in Peru.

Between Friday, April 14, 21 violent deaths were recorded. On Friday night, for example, a group of motorcycle hitmen riddled an entrepreneur who was traveling in his truck through the Miraflores district, considered a safe area.

A message of hope for Holy Week 2025

For Mons. García Camader Holy Week is “a gift that God makes to the Peruvian people and the entire world to meet Jesus Christ and to reflect on the difficult times that we have to live keeping us firm in a path of hope.”

The message, disseminated by the CEP, insists that current challenges – as corruption, violence and poverty – should not paralyze the people, but to promote it to change.

The prelate proposed a deep reconfiguration of the country from the values ​​of the Gospel. “We need a reengineering of politics, a restructuring of values ​​in the hearts of people, but above all an announcement of the Gospel for those who, being believers, need to look at their lives from Jesus Christ.”

The message also underlined the urgency of “reflecting on our life, on the life of the Church”, and “walking along the paths of reconciliation and forgiveness in attitude of listening, discerning and walking together synodally.”

Amid the difficulties, Mons. García Camader insisted that Christian hope is not a naive illusion, but a “certainty anchored in the resurrection.”

Another of the most urgent aspects addressed was the situation of youth and violence. “Today we live a messy world where young people and adolescents are prey to these violent realities and are captured so that they exercise violence. It is necessary to save our youth and our adolescence. It is necessary to save the family,” he said.

To do this, he said, it is not enough to point out evil, but it is necessary to propose concrete paths. “That everyday life faces us to difficult situations, but you, from creativity and love to God, seek solutions where there seems to be,” asked the prelate.

He also called a reading of reality from faith. “That’s where we have to look at ourselves. Today Christ invites us to contemplate the pain of our people and to power, from our daily lives, to be an answer that does not face each other but also contributes solutions to these difficult circumstances.”

“I invite you all, without distinction of any kind, to We compromise to make this Peru a country with hope. Let’s walk together renewing all the mission that God has given us, ”urged the president of the CEP.

Finally, referring to the Pascual mystery, he said: “That in this Holy Week, when contemplating the mystery of the cross, we are not far from the world, but committed and close to him, and above all creative in the search for solutions.”