President of the Senate Senator David Mark and Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has once again,taken stock of the unabating attacks on places of worship that have taken thousands of lives and scores of properties destroyed and asked the Christian faithful to leave vengeance to God.
Addressing the Bishops and delegates at the 2nd national pastoral congress and 4th national Eucharistic congress in Abuja , Senator Mark praised the Church for abiding by the teaching of ” our Faith that vengeance belongs to God. I urge us to continue in that path”.
He reflected on the theme of the conference” National Restoration through Reconciliation, Justice and peace saying the objective is realizable only when there is genuine reconciliation, honest, open, wide and sincere dialogue.
To restore peace and justice to our land, Senator Mark stressed that the agenda has to be positively and aggressively pursued by all and sundry in an honest and transparent manner.
He was pleased to note that the church even though a victim of the consistent attacks has found it needful to champion the cause of peace .
Senator Mark also tasked those in authority not to pay lip service to peace and justice but “we must practice it and ensure its implementation in words and deeds.”
Inspite of the persistent crises and other attendant factors bedeviling the nation, he stressed ” we need to be positive about life, positive about our nation, about our families, about the church as well as polity and governance.
“I am optimistic about our nation and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Like the Psalmist says, tears may flow in the night but joy comes in the morning”.
He admitted the imperfections in the system and therefore called for a collaborative effort between the church and the state in this journey of national restoration through reconciliation, justice and peace.
In his opening remark, the president of the CBCN, Archbishop, Ignatius Kaigama lamented the continued attacks on places of worship especially the Catholic church and asked the faithful not to be deterred but be steadfast in the service to God and humanity.
Kaigama promised that the church will not shy away from its duty to continue to pray for the nation irrespective of the challenges but pointed out that government at all levels must rise to their duty to protect lives…