The presidency of the Episcopal Conference released a statement following the news of the bloody attack that caused the death of three police officers in the province of Arauco, in the center-south of the country.
Felipe Herrera-Espaliat, from Santiago de Chile
Recalling the message that Pope Francis addressed to the Chilean people in January 2018, the country’s bishops reacted with pain and commotion to the murder of three police officers from the “Chile Carabiniers” who, on Saturday, April 27, were ambushed along from a road and were shot and burned inside a vehicle. Faced with the brutality of the crime, which occurred near the city of Cañete, in the Biobío region, the presidency of the Chilean Episcopal Conference issued a statement calling for peace in the country. “Let us make our own the words that Pope Francis addressed to us a few years ago in Temuco, when he invited us to unity in diversity, ‘which cannot be built on the basis of violence and destruction that, ultimately, require the price of human lives ‘, because the only thing this awakens is more violence and division, generating a spiral of meaningless pain”, said the prelates.
The terrorist attack took place in the province of Arauco, where there is extensive forestry activity, while radicalized groups, who claim to represent the demands of the Mapuche people, demand the return of their ancestral lands. Tension has been going on for decades and armed violence, marked by arson attacks perpetrated by organized crime groups, has increased to such an extent that the area has been under a constitutional state of emergency for the last two years. This implied, among other measures, a greater police presence and the collaboration of the armed forces to guarantee the safety of the inhabitants.
Sergeant Carlos Cisterna Navarro and corporals Sergio Arévalo Lobos and Misael Vidal Cid were carrying out these tasks of protecting and protecting citizens when they were attacked at around 1 am. For this reason, the bishops’ condolences were addressed to the families of the deceased and to the Carabineros of Chile, an institution that at the time of the attack was celebrating its 97th anniversary of foundation.
In their message, the prelates also formulated an “imperative appeal to authorities and public officials to seek agreements and measures that favor the common good of the nation and the fight against crime that takes innocent lives and causes so much damage to the national community”, and asked the faithful people to be instruments of peace and mercy.
This declaration, which ends by asking for the intercession of the Virgin of Mount Carmel, was signed by the president of the Episcopal Conference of Chile, Dom René Rebolledo, bishop of La Serena, and by the general secretary, Dom Sergio Pérez de Arce Arriagada, sscc, bishop of Chillán .
Commotion across the country
The Chilean media released the news that was a shock caused by this deadly attack, spreading the reactions of the Government, various political sectors and citizens who, across the country, spontaneously expressed their dismay at the violence, their desire of peace and its support for the Carabineros of Chile.
The military bishop, Dom Pedro Ossandón, under whose pastoral care are the Armed Forces and the Police, also expressed his solidarity with the families and the institution. “May Jesus Christ, who offered his life on the cross to overcome hatred, violence and death, welcome our companions into the eternal glory of God’s love, whom we will never forget and through whom we will always renew our service to the country” , he declared in a message of condolence addressed to the general director of the Carabineiros, Ricardo Yáñez.
The Archbishop of Santiago, Dom Fernando Chomali, who until a few months ago was bishop of the place where the tragic events occurred, raised his voice to state that “the lack of respect for human life, hatred and violence must be eradicated from our country . We must commit ourselves so that love and fraternity always prevail.”
In several cities and cathedrals in Chile, liturgical celebrations will continue in the coming days to pray for the fallen Carabinieri and to implore God for peace and fraternity in the country.
