Bishop Francis Alleyne

The bishop responsible for the diocese of Georgetown, Guyana, has called on citizens to work toward peace and return to recognising the sacredness of life.

Trinidad-born Bishop Francis Alleyne, OSB, made the public call in the wake of the brutal January 26 murders of 11 people, including five children, in the town of Lusignan, located seven miles east of the capital.

According to an Associated Press report, security forces have blamed the murders on a notorious gang leader who has accused them of kidnapping his pregnant girlfriend.

He has sworn to make violent attacks on citizens until she is released. "(This) could not have been done by human beings but rather by animals," President Bharrat Jagdeo said ahead of meetings with security officials and the military.

More than 300 residents of Mon Repos, a neighbouring town of Lusignan, have protested the inability of the security forces to deal with crime and violence by blocking roads and burning refrigerators, tires and other material.

The full statement from Bishop Alleyne: 
“The Roman Catholic Church joins with others in expressing strong condemnation of the killings that took place in Lusignan during the early morning hours of Saturday, January 26.

In the first place the Church extends condolences to the families of the victims in the wake of terror and loss.

Loss of life is always tragic but when the lives lost were those of innocent children and when the act, to all appearances, was unprovoked and fraught with violence and terror, then what we see before us, in the victims and perpetrators, is a most grave breach on the sanctity of life. 

This incident will undoubtedly and understandably stir anger and fear in many hearts and may open wounds of the past. It is the firm belief of the Church that any response to this incident that may arise from stereotyping or inclination to retaliate would not be the most appropriate. 

Rather, in the face of this and the too many other occurrences in which persons are killed, injured, maimed, abused and traumatised, the Church calls on the people of Guyana to join in urgent and concerted resolve to reclaim for the nation the sacredness of human life. 

Let what is happening around us prompt all Guyanese to work for harmony paying special attention to those most in need so that all may be at peace, find a place in the society and be free to contribute to the well-being and up building of the nation.”