The Bishops of Canada in Plenary Assembly convey to you and all the Bishops of the United States of America our compassionate prayers and deepest condolences over the recent tragic events that have beset the citizens of your country.

We assure you of our common commitment to the solidarity which binds together the Church in both our nations and throughout our continent as we together search for justice in the face of the "terror of violence". Terrorism, as the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America goes on to note, is among those "social sins which cry to heaven because they generate violence [and] disrupt peace and harmony" (no. 56).

Prepared with you and all pastors and faithful to name and confront every evil that degrades human dignity, we reaffirm, as reiterated by Ecclesia in America (nn. 56, 57), that profound vision of respect and concern for life which is the only secure foundation for public order and true peace.

United in this difficult but compelling quest for justice and solidarity, we pledge the prayerful hopes and heartfelt collaboration of all the Church in Canada.


Gerald Wiesner, OMI
President
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops