{"id":11927,"date":"2021-03-19T17:06:23","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T17:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/?p=11927"},"modified":"2021-03-19T17:06:23","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T17:06:23","slug":"secam-catholic-bishops-in-africa-express-solidarity-with-equatorial-guinea-after-deadly-explosions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2021\/03\/19\/secam-catholic-bishops-in-africa-express-solidarity-with-equatorial-guinea-after-deadly-explosions\/","title":{"rendered":"SECAM: Catholic Bishops in Africa Express Solidarity with Equatorial Guinea after Deadly Explosions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA<\/em><\/p>\n

Following a series of explosions at Equatorial Guinea\u2019s largest city of Bata that occurred recently on Sunday, March 7, leading to loss of several lives in the country, Catholic bishops in Africa and the surrounding Islands have expressed solidarity with the people of God assuring them of \u201cspiritual closeness\u201d during this tragic situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) are deeply saddened by the recent blasts in Bata city, Equatorial Guinea,\u201d the Prelates said in their Monday, March 15, statement shared with AMECEA online<\/em> adding that \u201cIt is a tragic and lamentable situation, compounded by the current Coronavirus pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a situation report<\/a> published Sunday, March 14, \u201cThe death toll from the Bata explosions remains at 107 with at least 119 people, mostly children, remain hospitalized and over 600 people injured.<\/p>\n

\u201cDear brothers and sisters in Equatorial Guinea, be assured that the Church-Family-of God in Africa is close to you and carries you in her daily prayers and addresses supplications to Jesus Christ to comfort and strengthen you,\u201d bishops assure citizens of Equatorial Guinea in their statement signed by the SECAM President Philippe Nakellentuba Cardinal Ou\u00e9draogo.<\/p>\n

They condoled with the families who have lost their loved ones saying, \u201cTo all the wounded and those affected in any way by the explosions, courage: we express our spiritual closeness and solidarity with you\u2026 Look up to God with hope; he suffers with you and has not abandoned you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their statement the bishops noted that such tragic moments, \u201craise doubts about God’s omnipotence and omnipresence, especially, for those in grip of anguish and sorrow,\u201d but assured the \u00a0people of Bata that “The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and helps those whose spirit is crushed.”<\/p>\n

Adding to the reflection of St. Augustine on God\u2019s closeness the Prelates said, “Being supremely good, God would not allow any evil in his works, unless in his omnipotence and goodness, he is able to bring forth good out of evil.”<\/p>\n

The bishops in Africa and the surrounding Islands have further invited the Church, civil organizations and all people of good will in Africa and beyond to \u201ccome to the assistance of our brothers and sisters in Equatorial Guinea.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to report<\/a> the government of Equatorial Guinea held an official funeral on Friday, March 12, for the victims in the explosions.<\/p>\n

During the funeral, the President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo promised government\u2019s commitment to rebuilding the city.<\/p>\n

“May the Virgin Mary, Queen of Africa, ensure the maternal protection for her children,” the Bishops concluded seeking intervention from the Mother of the Savior.<\/p>\n

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Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA Following a series of explosions at Equatorial Guinea\u2019s largest city…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amecea-news","category-secam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11928,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11927\/revisions\/11928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}