In his words after the Angelus prayer, at 12:00 local time, from the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, before faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, he said that last June 20, “a terrible violence between rival gangs caused death and suffering” in that Central American nation.

“I pray for the deceased, I pray for the families,” he said, and prayed that “the Virgin of Suyapa, Mother of Honduras, may help hearts to be opened to reconciliation and to make room for fraternal coexistence, even inside prisons”.

A confrontation between female prisoners in the National Female Penitentiary of Social Adaptation (Pnfas), ended with a toll of 46 dead, 23 of them burned, while the other 23 were killed with bladed weapons or firearms.

During a search carried out a few hours after the incident, an arsenal of weapons was found, including several pistols and a U.S. R-15 assault rifle, as well as several magazines and unexploded projectiles, three knives and a radio.

jrr/jav/oda/ort