KENYA: Catholic Church Issues a Solidarity Message to Condemn the Massacre at Garrisa University College.

The Full Text of the Message

“And
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more. And
neither mourning, nor crying out, nor grief shall be anymore. For the first
things have passed away,” (Revelations 21:4).

 

The
Catholic Church in Kenya joins other Kenyans and the international community in
mourning the 148 young students, staff members and security personnel who lost
their lives through massacre at Garrisa University College. We condole with the
parents and relatives who lost their loved ones and assure them of our
continued prayers, especially during this painful period. For those still in
hospital, we pray for their quick recovery and peace of mind. For those who
survived with minor or no injuries, we wish them speedy recovery from the
psycho-social trauma and resumption of their studies.

 

We
have been touched by the generous support of Kenyans to the victims of the
terror attack and their families and extend our gratitude and prayers to all
who have touched the lives of these people in one way or the other. We call on
Kenyans and all people of good will to continue lending their support even as the
affected students and their families go back to their homes. The Catholic
Church commits to activate the parish networks for our Christian faithful to
lend their support and prayers. At the same time, we call on our priests,
Church institutions and other Christian Churches to journey with the victims
and families of the terror attacks by providing them with psycho-social support
at the Parish community levels.

 

We
strongly condemn the heinous terror attack visited on innocent promising young
Kenyans and all those others going about their duties at the University
College.

 

We
hope the Government will get to the bottom of this problem of terrorism and
radicalization with a view to proactively stemming such incidences from
recurring. In the meantime, we urge the Government to beef up security
especially in all educational institutions in the Country and also address the
now obvious breakdown in the security intelligence system.

 

It
is saddening that many Kenyan youths are being radicalized to commit acts of
terrorism against their fellow citizens. We all need to join efforts and
embrace a spirit of nationalism and patriotism among all of us. It is
unfortunate that some terrorists are living among us yet we are not reporting
them to the relevant authorities. We need to respect the dignity of all human
persons.

 

While
the Government is expected to provide security to all the people in all parts
of the Country, we observe that all of us have a responsibility to support the
Government by being vigilant and providing information on any suspicious
persons and items within our immediate environment. In addition, parents,
guardians and teachers need to be more observant of the behavior of their
children for purposes of identifying any unusual, negative, suspicious or violent
tendencies.

 

Such
behavior should be dealt with immediately or support sought from relevant
institutions or authorities. Time has come for Kenyans to be more patriotic.
Let us all be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.

 

The
Ministry of Education, the Teachers Service Commission, Boards of Management
and University Councils should carefully and continuously vet all employees to
ensure that they are not used to radicalize students and recruit them to join
subversive groups.  

 

Religious
leaders should desist from teaching and preaching hatred for people who do not
subscribe to their religion and doctrines, and recognize that everybody
believes in a Supreme Being. Everybody has an inalienable right to life and
fundamental freedoms, especially to religious beliefs, and as such they should
not be perceived as non-believers.

 

In
the wake of regular attacks in the Country, we call on the Government and
security agencies to formulate an emergency response strategy for the Country.
Time has come for us to ask ourselves certain questions: as institutions, how
prepared are we to respond to terror attacks? How have we prepared our students
and by extension, all Kenyans, to respond under attack? How can we minimize
casualties during emergencies? We call on the Government to move with speed
and, through the National Youth Service, provide mandatory emergency response
training at all our learning institutions and to all other vulnerable groups.

 

Fellow
Kenyans, despite all the difficulties we are facing as a Country, we urge you
to remain united. Let us continue to pray for our Country so that security,
peace and unity may prevail. 

God
bless you and God bless Kenya.

Signed:___________________________