Church joins mourning for victims of New Year fire in Swiss bar

‘This night, which was supposed to be a celebration, has turned into a terrible disaster for hundreds of people. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected,’ said the Diocese of Sion.

Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey of Sion said a Requiem Mass for the victims of fire in a bar in the ski resort Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve.

The Mass on Sunday morning in the Saint-Christophe chapel in Crans, in the Swiss canton Wallis, was broadcast live on national television and was followed by a procession to the site of the disaster where mourners laid flowers.

Church bells rang out throughout the Diocese of Sion on 2 January as a sign of solidarity and prayer, and churches in Switzerland, Italy and elsewhere offered their condolences for the victims of the devastating fire during the night of the New Year.

A telegram from the Vatican said Pope Leo mourned with the families and the whole of Switzerland in the face of the “tragic fire” and “asks the Lord to welcome the dead into his dwelling place of peace and light and to strengthen the courage of those who suffer in their hearts or bodies”.

“May the Mother of God, in her tenderness, give the consolation of faith to all those affected by this drama and keep them in hope,” said the message, signed by the Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Speaking after the Angelus in St Peter’s Square on Sunday, Pope Leo said he wished “to express once again my closeness to those suffering as a result of the tragedy” and “to assure them of my prayers for the young people who died, for the injured and for their families”.

The Diocese of Sion said in a statement: “This night, which was supposed to be a celebration, has turned into a terrible disaster for hundreds of people. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected.”

A statement from the Swiss bishops’ conference said its members “are deeply shocked by the gravity of this disaster, for all the victims, for their families who are still waiting for information, but also for all the emergency services. All our churches can be places of support and are places of prayer in this terrible hour.”

Police opened an investigation of the owners of the bar, amid speculation about the cause of the disaster. Speaking at the Mass in Crans, Bishop Lovey said it was “unbearable for so many families to remain in the darkness of suffering and death”.

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