Johannesburg, 02 October, 2024 / 9:27 pm (ACI Africa).
Bishop Thulani Victor Mbuyisa of South Africa’s Catholic Diocese of Kokstad has called for prayers for the spiritual conversion of persons behind the September 27 mass shooting in two homesteads on the same street in the South African town of Lusikisiki, in the Eastern Cape that left at least 18 people dead.
On the night of September 27, attackers reportedly targeted two homesteads, killing 12 women and one man at one site, and three women and one man at a second. The 18th victim is said to have succumbed to the injuries on September 29 while receiving treatment.
The victims, who were relatives and neighbors from a village in St. Anthony of Padua Parish of Kokstad Diocese had reportedly gathered to prepare for a traditional mourning ceremony, to commemorate a mother and daughter murdered last year.
In a video recording to the affected families posted on Monday, September 30, Bishop Mbuyisa calls for spiritual solidarity, saying, “Let us pray for the conversion of the hearts of the perpetrators of these barbaric crimes and the conversion of all of us.”
The South African Catholic Bishop adds, “I also call upon other religious leaders to offer prayers, especially prayers for conversion. It is time for us, as a nation, to reflect on our lives and where we are now. Christ came to give us life, and life to the full, as we read in the Gospel of John 10:10.”
