Pope Leo XIV urges Honduran bishops to teach peace amid violence
The pope told the bishops of Honduras to promote education for peace and defend human dignity during their ad limina visit, which ended Friday and was overshadowed by the death of Bishop Teodoro Gómez Rivera
Pope Leo XIV has called on the Church in Honduras to promote education for peace and to defend human dignity. He did so during the ad limina visit of the country's bishops, the periodic trip bishops make to Rome to meet the pope and report on their dioceses. The visit ended Friday after a meeting that ran more than two hours, longer than scheduled, in an atmosphere of closeness and fraternity.
The meeting was overshadowed by the death of Bishop Teodoro Gómez Rivera of Choluteca, vice president of the Honduran bishops' conference, who died on September 28 at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport while traveling to Rome to take part in the visit.
Bishop Jenry Orlando Ruiz of Trujillo said the pope listened closely as the bishops set out the concerns and hopes of the Honduran people. Leo XIV sent a greeting to all Hondurans and mentioned in particular the priests and pastoral workers serving rural and urban communities, including La Mosquitia and the Garifuna people. Ruiz said that when he received the apostolic blessing, he directed it toward the communities of his diocese so that it would reach everyone.
A message of peace amid violence
The pope spoke about building a culture of peace in the face of the violence affecting Honduras. He encouraged the bishops to promote education for peace in families, schools and communities, and said every Honduran should become an educator for peace.
Ruiz also pointed to the need to strengthen education in Gospel values, both in Catholic institutions and in public schools and universities. The pope encouraged them to offer an integral education that contributes to the human and Christian formation of younger generations. He stressed the importance of respecting the dignity of every person and of strengthening the principles of the Church's social doctrine in the face of the violence, poverty and migration the country faces.
Leo XIV said the mission of the Church in Honduras must go beyond organizing activities and center on a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Ruiz said evangelization has to be a continuous task, present in every area of Church and social life, and tied to the spirit of synodality that fosters communion and missionary commitment.
The ad limina visit also included a Mass in memory of Gómez.
Ruiz said the visit was an opportunity to review the fruits of the bishops' pastoral work and to identify areas that need attention, and he said the Church in Honduras walks in communion with the universal Church.
Speaking on the program Estudio 9, Ruiz said he wanted to bring the greeting, the blessing and the guidance of Pope Leo XIV back to his diocese and to the Honduran people. He pledged to keep working for a missionary Church that is united and close to people's needs.
