AMECEA: Chairman Expresses Solidarity With Countries Affected by Ethiopian Plane Crash

The AMECEA Chairman, Bishop of Solwezi in Zambia has joined the international community in expressing solidarity to people affected by the tragedy of Ethiopian flight to Nairobi, which crashed shortly after take-off on Sunday morning, March 10, 2019, killing all 157 people on board.

In his message of solidarity to the President of Ethiopian Catholic Bishops Conference H.E. Berhaneyesus Cardinal Souraphiel, Bishop Kasonde said that the tragedy has indeed, in different ways, affected a number of AMECEA countries including Kenya, Uganda and Sudan as well as the affiliate member countries Djibouti and Somalia from where some of victims came and worked.

It was reported that among the dead included 32 from Kenya, nine from Ethiopia and one person each from Sudan, Uganda, Somalia and Djibouti.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims so that they may experience divine strength and consolation during these difficult times. And may the Almighty and Compassionate God grant eternal rest to the departed brothers and sisters,” Bishop Kasonde said in the letter which was shared with AMECEA Online News.

Considering the fact that the majority of people who died in the ill-fated aircraft were from Kenya, (32 people), Bishop Kasonde also sent a message of Solidarity to the Kenyan people through the Chairman of Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, Most Rev. Philip Anyolo.

“My condolences also go to the entire Church in Kenya and to all the families affected by the tragedy. We pray for divine strength and consolation to all families, friends and associates. May the Almighty and Compassionate God grant eternal repose to the souls departed as they continue to praise and bless Him in Heaven.”

Earlier during the week, the Holy Father Pope Francis through the Vatican Secretary of State H.E. Cardinal Pietro Parolin expressed his closeness to the families and friends of the plane crash and offered prayers for the deceased.

“Having learned with sadness of the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash, His Holiness Pope Francis offers prayers for the deceased from various countries and commends their souls to the mercy of the almighty God,” read a March 11 statement signed on behalf of the Pope by Cardinal Parolin.

“Pope Francis sends heartfelt condolences to their families and upon all who mourn this tragic loss he invokes the divine blessings of consolation and strength,” the statement read.

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By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News