El Paso Catholic Bishop Mark Seitz has called for a Holy Hour for Peace at St. Patrick Cathedral as part of national response in prayer “during this time of heightened fear, division, and concern for human dignity.”
The Holy Hour for Peace will take place at 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 1, at St. Patrick Cathedral, offering the faithful a time and space for prayer for the good of the nation, healing, renewal and reconciliation, the Catholic Diocese of El Paso announced in a news release.
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The El Paso service is part of a national invitation from Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who has encouraged bishops and priests across the country to step forward against indifference and injustice.
The Stations of the Cross are seen at El Paso’s St. Patrick Cathedral, which will host a Holy Hour for Peace on Sunday evening, Feb. 1, as part of a Catholic national response to the division, fear and anger across the nation.
“Your faithfulness matters. Your prayers matter. Your acts of love and works of justice matter,” Coakley stated to the faithful in his written reflection and invitation for the Holy Hour for Peace.
Coakley urged Catholics to respond to social tensions not with anger or despair, but with prayer, compassion, and hope rooted in Christ.
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“The recent killing of two people by immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis and that of a detained man in Texas, are just a few of the tragic examples of the violence that represent failures in our society to respect the dignity of every human life,” Coakley stated.
“We mourn this loss of life and deplore the indifference and injustice it represents,” Coakley stated. “The current climate of fear and polarization, which thrives when human dignity is disregarded, does not meet the standard set by Christ in the Gospel.”
The death of “detained man in Texas” appears to be a reference to Cuban immigrant, Gerardo Lunas Campos, who died in what an autopsy report deemed a homicide at Camp East Montana in El Paso, the largest ICE detention center in the nation.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Holy Hour for Peace called for by El Paso Catholic Bishop Mark Seitz