Pope Francis expressed his pain and joined the mourning of the Catholic Church in Honduras after the murder of Juan Antonio López, environmentalist and Delegate of the Word of God in the Central American country.
“I have learned with pain that Juan Antonio López, delegate of the Word of God, coordinator of the social pastoral care of the diocese of Trujillo and founding member of the pastoral care of integral ecology in Honduras, has been murdered in Honduras,” said the Holy Father. after the Angelus prayer this Sunday in the Vatican.
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“I join in the mourning of that Church and the condemnation of all forms of violence. “I am close to those who see their own elementary rights trampled and to those who strive for the common good in response to the cry of the poor and the earth,” he added.
According InfobaeLópez was murdered by armed men on September 14, in Tocoa, department of Colón in the north of the country, while he was in his vehicle, shortly after proclaiming the Word of God in the parish of San Antonio de Padua.
With the permission of the local bishop, the delegates of the Word of God lead celebrations of the Word, in which in addition to the proclamation of the Gospel they can deliver hosts previously consecrated by priests.
This function is especially relevant in regions where priests do not frequently arrive.
The Catholic Church in Honduras expressed its deep pain over the murder of Juan Antonio López, known for his defense of the environment against mining activities.
Pope Francis: We pray for peace and for the end of war
“Brothers and sisters, we continue to pray for peace,” Pope Francis said at another time after praying the Angelus.
“Unfortunately on the war fronts the tension is very high. The voices of the people asking for peace are heard,” he added.
“Let us not forget the martyred Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and so many countries that are at war. We pray for peace,” concluded the Holy Father.
Walter Sanchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.