Church joins outrage at massacre of labourers in Honduras

‘Each of the victims was a person created in the image of likeness of God. We cannot accept superficial justifications in the light of such horrendous deeds.’

Church leaders in Honduras condemned the murder of 21 rural workers inside a church building last month. 

The workers, including a child aged nine, were murdered on 21 May inside the church they had entered before beginning their day of work on a palm plantation in the Diocese of Trujillo, in the province of Colón – named after Christopher Columbus (Colón) who docked there during his fourth and last journey to the Americas in 1502.  

Local authorities reported that armed men linked to criminal gangs opened fire inside a church where the labourers had taken refuge before beginning their shifts.  

“We have received this news with deep sadness and indignation,” said the Bishops’ Conference of Honduras in a statement. “Each of the victims was a person created in the image of likeness of God.”  

They continued: “We hereby express our complete rejection of this and other similar acts … We cannot accept superficial justifications in the light of such horrendous deeds.” 

The Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM) condemned the massacre in a statement addressed to Bishop Jenry Ruiz Mora of Trujillo: “No life can be sacrificed.”

One local resident told Vatican News that locals “live in fear” of criminal violence. “These palm trees seem to be cursed,” they said. “They have brought us much tragedy. We have lost many friends and relatives due to the land disputes.”  

In a separate incident hours after the massacre, five police officers were kidnapped and killed, their bodies dismembered and burnt, in Omoa, a northern Honduran city near the border with Guatemala. They had been trying to capture drug traffickers.

Fr Gregorio Vasquez SJ, who coordinates the National Apostolic Council in Honduras, told the online outlet Crux: “Honduras has been facing a rather complex situation. Those deaths touch on very sensitive issues for Hondurans – drug trafficking, gangs, and historic land disputes”.

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