(ANS - Táchira) - Information sites all over the world today carry headlines and expressions of grief on the death of yet another young man: "Venezuela again mourns the loss of innocent life, the death of a fourteen year-old boy, a school student, who had a whole life ahead of him."  This is how Javier Taeño reports the incident on the Blog Noticias Gaceta Trotamundos. Faced with this situation, Fr Francisco Méndez, SDB, Salesian Provincial of Venezuela, has issued a message inviting people to "overcome evil by force of good."

The Provincial’s Message:

"The Salesians in Venezuela are in mourning, because another young Venezuelan has been killed, and this time in a scandalous way. We feel pain also for other young people who continue to suffer in various ways due to the lack of respect for their dignity. We want to bear this pain with the commitment of hope with which Jesus bore his pain when he learned that his cousin John had been beheaded in Herod’s palace. Jesus knew that his pain was a challenge to him to commit himself more generously to the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.

Salesian Confreres and other educators, young people and adults who are involved in the projects of our works, I invite you to join in this Christ-like mourning in order to nourish our own hope and rekindle hope in all, especially in those who are discouraged and confused. In order to overcome evil by force of good, I invite you to live more intensely our commitment to life and justice, with more prayer and fasting, and by sharing in the Eucharist. 

Fr Francisco Méndez, SDB, Provincial

Published 26/02/2015