Pray for hostage victims and their families — bishops

To help heal the wounds inflicted by the hostage crisis in Manila last week, Catholic bishops urged Filipinos to pray for the hostage victims and their grieving families. “We should ask the Chinese for forgiveness and understanding as we express our deepest sympathies for their loss and we’ll join them in prayers that their dearly departed with rest in peace and the wounded recover in due time," Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said. On August 23, a dismissed senior police inspector, Rolando Mendoza, hijacked a tourist bus and held hostage 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos. After an 11-hour standoff, nine people died— eight Hong Kong tourists and the hostage-taker. In a report on the news site of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Vidal expressed the hope that in time, the Chinese people's anger would subside because nobody thought that the hostage crisis would have a bloody end. Former CBCP president and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said, "While we cannot prevent the negative reaction from Hong Kong and Chinese residents and leaders, I can only hope reason and sobriety will prevail." The Archbishop noted that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III is on the right track because he already apologized to Hong Kong officials and residents after the hostage crisis. He said the CBCP may also make representations with their counterparts in Hong Kong although it would depend on the decision of the CBCP Permanent Council. "There is a possibility (the CBCP) will also make representations with their counterparts in Hong Kong although it would depend on the decision of the CBCP Permanent Council," Lagdameo said. On Sunday, Hong Kong groups took part in a march and rally voicing indignation over the hostage crisis, and calling for an impartial investigation. –VVP, GMANews.TV