Colombian bishop to bless entire city to counter violence
FREE Catholic Classes
Bishop Ruben DarĂo Jaramillo Montoya of Buenaventura will perform blessings throughout his cathedral city Saturday, hoping to counter it's extreme violence, including kidnappings and murders.
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >
Highlights
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
7/12/2019 (4 years ago)
Published in Americas
Buenaventura, Colombia, (CNA) - Buenaventura is Colombia's main port on the Pacific, and so is a key point in the international drug trade.
In recent years, Human Rights Watch has said the city's neighborhoods are controlled by "paramilitary successor groups" which engage in extortion and violence.
Bishop Jaramillo had originally shared the idea of performing a blessing on the city from a helicopter. The news has been erroneously reported by some media as an exorcism.
The Bishop of Buenaventura told ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish language sister agency, July 10 that the blessing will be done July 13, but not from a helicopter.
"We are going to form a line of vehicles with a firetruck and a statue of Saint Bonaventure. We're going to go to all locations, to the most difficult neighborhoods where people have been killed in recent years," he explained.
The caravan and the people who will be waiting throughout the city "will form a people who are going to reinterpret those places of death so they will now be places of life," Jaramillo said.
At every place the caravan stops, the bishop will offer a prayer, there will be a hymn, and the community will gather together to hear a testimony. "We're going to pray for the victims and to then do a blessing," he said.
"Where blood flowed, where blood was shed, we are now going to pour holy water as a sign of reparation at the place where those who died were struck down by violence," the bishop stated.
Last month, the prelate told Agenzia Fides, "we've had 54 violent deaths so far this year, but there are a lot of people who have disappeared. And people don't report it. The problem is there is still not a culture of reporting because there is fear, we have a society that is afraid to report."
The bishop also denounced the existence of so-called "torture chambers" or "chop-up houses" where people who were kidnapped are tortured and killed because they got in the way of or did not support gangs and organized crime, something thought to have disappeared in 2015.
---
'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'
Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online
Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.
-
Mysteries of the Rosary
-
St. Faustina Kowalska
-
Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
-
Saint of the Day for Wednesday, Oct 4th, 2023
-
Popular Saints
-
St. Francis of Assisi
-
Bible
-
Female / Women Saints
-
7 Morning Prayers you need to get your day started with God
-
Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Catholic Bishops Call for Civil Dialogue Amid Church Polarization
-
Pope Francis Emphasizes Charity as the Pinnacle of Christian Love
-
Discovering the Heart of Love: Pope Francis Shares Wisdom on Charity
-
Come Holy Spirit! The Whole Church Needs Pentecost
-
Our Lady of Fatima asks the same thing of us today
Daily Catholic
- Daily Readings for Friday, May 17, 2024
- St. Paschal Baylon: Saint of the Day for Friday, May 17, 2024
- Prayer to St. Gabriel, for Others: Prayer of the Day for Friday, May 10, 2024
- Daily Readings for Thursday, May 16, 2024
- St. Simon Stock: Saint of the Day for Thursday, May 16, 2024
- Prayer for Travelers: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, May 09, 2024
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >
Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.
Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.