Watch: Let “this war, that no one understands and that mistreats everyone, end as soon as possible” – Pemba Apostolic Administrator

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Watch: Let “this war, that no one understands and that mistreats everyone, end as soon as possible” – Pemba Apostolic Administrator

10:55 CAT | 29 Mar 2021

Screen grab: Diocese de Pemba on Facebook

Presiding over Mass on Palm Sunday, D. António Juliasse brought to mind the suffering of those in Cabo Delgado province, particularly in the district of Palma.

The apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Pemba said on Sunday that “justice in a nation is non-negotiable”, that “everything that is violence is no longer religion”, and called for the war in the region to be brought to an end “as soon as possible”.

“We will entrust Jesus so that he may place the suffering of our Cabo Delgado Province with the Father and pronounce the word of mercy so that we may be transformed from within, so that this war that no one understands and mistreats everyone may end as soon as possible,” D. António Juliasse said.

In the homily of the Palm Sunday Mass, delivered via Facebook, the Pemba apostolic administrator and auxiliary bishop of Maputo reminded the country’s rulers of the need to guarantee justice, so that all people “are preserved from evils” and no one is excluded, either “at the political or material level”.

“Justice in a nation is non-negotiable. A leader who does not practice justice is no longer truly a leader,” he said.

D. António Juliasse indicated that “the government must look at the poorest, the smallest, and ensure that they escape from poverty”. “None may be privileged or excluded for religious, political, ethnic or even regional reasons,” he added.

Religious leaders cannot foment violence, because “there is no religion of violence”, and those who govern cannot “wash their hands” like Pilate, because “washing their hands is condemning the innocent”.

“If a leader washes his hands, he in this way condemns all the people he governs,” he maintained.

Armed conflict in the Cabo Delgado region, in northern Mozambique, is the source of a humanitarian crisis that has been worsening since 2017, and has already displaced more than 700,000 people and cost at least 2,000 lives.

Last Wednesday, terrorist attacks intensified in the district of Palma, forcing 1,800 people to flee the region by boat, this Saturday, mostly workers at the natural gas project.

“God show us another way, not the way of violence, not the way of cruelty, but the way of love and fraternity,” D. António Juliasse appealed.

At the end of the celebration, the apostolic administrator of Pemba expressed his “communion with the brothers in the district of Palma” and invited Catholics in the region to participate in Holy Week celebrations via radio or social networks, because of the coronavirus pandemic, starting with the Chrism Mass, celebrated in the Diocese of Pemba on Tuesday.

Source: Agencia Ecclesia / Diocese de Pemba on Facebook