Letter
Solidarity Letter to Church in Burundi Joining Call for Halt to Violence, December 17, 2015
Solidarity Letter from Bishop Oscar Cantu, Chairman, Committee on International Justice to Church in Burundi Joining Call for Halt to Violence, December 17, 2015
As Chair of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I write to express our support and solidarity to the Bishops’ Conference of Burundi and to the people of your country. We are following the events in Burundi since the elections earlier this year with great concern. We are saddened by the loss of life, the social disruption and the negative effects that these events have had on human lives, the economy and people’s livelihoods.
We join you in your call for a halt to the violence and the immediate startup of inclusive dialogue among all parties in Burundi, facilitated by regional partners and international donors. As Pope Francis has said many times, dialogue is the only productive way to discuss grievances and conflicting interests. This dialogue must be sustained long enough to generate shared solutions that would avoid violence and eventually rebuild the social fabric of the country.