Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle prays for the victims of Brussels attacks during a Mass at the Manila City Jail on Wednesday, March 23. (CBCPNews photo/R. Lagarde)
MANILA, March 23, 2016— Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila on Wednesday has joined in the global condemnation of the ‘horrible’ terror bombings on Brussels airport and a metro station.
The cardinal extended condolences to the victims and their families while expressing solidarity with the people of Belgium.
“What happened to our brothers and sisters in Brussels is saddening and we want to express our solidarity with them,” Tagle said during a mass for the Jubilee of Mercy at the Manila City Jail (MCJ)
“We call on God’s mercy for the people of Belgium and even for those who perpetrated this horrible incident,” he said.
Tagle visited the prison located in Manila’s Quiapo district and led the opening of the “Holy Door” of the MCJ chapel, along with Papal nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto.
The attacks on Belgium capital yesterday claimed 34 lives and injured more than a hundred people as Islamic State claims responsibility for the bombings.
Bishop Ruperto Santos, chairman of the bishops’ Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People, also offered prayers “for strength and healing of those who survived this senseless and sinful carnage.”
“It is human tragedy that there those heartless people who nurtured destruction and death on others. All must reject violence. All must respect rights and dignity of others, regardless of color, creed and customs,” he said.
“We pray that they realize their evil deeds, selfish and sinful ideologies and reject the paths of death. All those guilty and harboring death should have contrition and conversion,” said Santos.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis also deplored the “blind violence which caused so much suffering” and offered his condolences to the victims.
In his message to Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Mechelen-Brussels, the pontiff entrusted “to God’s mercy those who died” and, in prayer, he shared the pain of their loved ones.
“Learning of the attacks in Brussels, which have affected many people, His Holiness Pope Francis entrusts to God’s mercy those who died and, in prayer, he shares the pain of their loved ones,” the message said. (Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews)
