Colombia’s Ordinariate of the Military is calling for a 24-hour period of Eucharistic Adoration to pray for peace in the country.

The country is facing a crisis in the wake of a proposed tax reforms that have prompted a national strike, with outbreaks of violence that have led to the deaths of at least 42 people.

Bishop Victor Ochoa Cadavid, the Military Ordinariate, has invited the faithful to take part in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament beginning at 8 am Thursday. Army, Navy, Air Force and National Police chaplaincies will take part in the event.

The Church in Colombia has been attempting to mediate between the government and members of the Strike Committee. In particular, Church leaders have expressed solidarity with the citizens of Cali and Popayán “for the painful situations they have experience in recent days, as well as other populations in the departments of Valle del Cauca and Cauca.”

The Colombian episcopal conference has attempted to start negotiations, with the Bishops and the UN as mediators. “In this context,” they said in a message announcing the initative, “we make a call to maintain hope, as Pope Francis has said; despite the dense shadows, hope is bold, knows how to look beyond personal comforts, and elevates the spirit towards the greatest and truest ideals and realities.”

In their message, the bishops insisted that “violence, with its multiple forms and expressions, no matter where it comes from does not solve anything, and produces suffering and death.”

They prayed that “the spiral of violence stop, with the will and participation of all, and that the path of dialogue might be opened.”

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