Lent 2025: The Episcopal Conference Invites Pilgrims to Live Under the Sign of Hope

The Easter season begins. The Episcopal Conference calls for living under the sign of hope. In a note addressed to priests, religious, and the faithful, the CEH calls on everyone to make this Lent a true spiritual pilgrimage towards the Passover of Christ, the ultimate source of our hope. The Catholic Bishops indicate that we are living 'these Lenten times as a true path of penance marked by the horror of gang violence and the indifference or powerlessness of those who should guarantee justice and peace.' According to the CEH, the perpetrators of these atrocities should be judged and punished without delay. The Bishops ask all the faithful to support those who have lost everything and to undertake actions to relieve the most vulnerable during these Lenten times. Given the particular context that Haiti is going through, the CEH asks every citizen to unite and stand together. 'Every Haitian must feel concerned and outraged by the devastation to which our country is subjected, starting with the systematic and organized destruction of our health infrastructure (hospitals, pharmacies, medical laboratories) and educational infrastructure (libraries, schools, universities), and the attacks on life, which is sacred,' wrote the Episcopal Conference, while inviting the people to keep hope and trust in Christ. 'Dear brothers and sisters, misfortune overwhelms us, but we are not alone in facing it. Christ confronted it in His Passion, bearing the weight of human suffering.'