In response to the March 22 bombings in Brussels, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton offered the following:
“This is Holy Week. It is the week when Christians meditate on the passion of Jesus Christ – his betrayal, suffering and death. It seems to me that the terror attacks in Brussels – the shedding of so much innocent blood – are a part of Christ’s passion just as are the flight of Syrian refugees, the plight of unaccompanied migrant children, gun violence in our cities and violent conflicts in too many places in the world. In his passion Christ continues to bear all of the grief and pain of victims and all of the hate of perpetrators.
“This will not be the last attack. So where is our hope? Christ’s passion leads to his resurrection and to ours. We must not hunker down behind barriers of suspicion and fear of the other. They won’t provide security. Our hope is in the life and light of Christ which no power on earth can overcome,” she said.
News reports indicate that at least 31 people were killed and more than 270 wounded in the blasts.
