Vatican City, December 28, 2014
Your Excellency, Bishop Maximino Martinez Miranda
Bishop of the City of Altamirano
Profoundly saddened on receiving the sad news of the murder of Father Gregorio Lopez Gorostieta, the Holy Father expresses his profound sympathy to Your Excellency, as well as to the clergy, the Religious Communities and the faithful of that beloved diocese, while at the same time he offers prayers for the eternal repose of Christ’s priest, victim of unjustifiable violence.
Expressing once again his firm condemnation of all attacks on life and the dignity of persons, His Holiness urges the priests and other missionaries of the diocese to continue their ecclesial mission with ardor despite the difficulties, following the example of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
With these sentiments, while wishing also to express his closeness to Father Lopez Gorostieta’s relatives in this very painful trial, the Supreme Pontiff imparts to the ecclesial community his comforting Apostolic Blessings as sign of Christian hope in the Risen Lord.
+Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State of His Holiness
