News
[Joint release with the Latin American and Caribbean Agency of Communication (ALC)]
Feelings of loss, grief and despair marked the funeral services of an estimated 235 university students killed in a night club fire on Sunday, 27 January, in Santa Maria, Brazil. Vigils, masses, worships and ecumenical services are held across the country in memory of the victims, offering prayers for the bereaved.
The fire started around 2:30 am in the “Kiss” night club during a musical performance. Sparks from a pyrotechnics show ignited the ceiling and fire rapidly spread through the building.
Following the incident, Bishop Francisco de Assis da Silva of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil (IEAB) South Western Diocese, using social media and networking, called the diocese's local membership to gather for a vigil at the Anglican cathedral. They also collected information and discussed how the community could help.
A chain of solidarity was formed to comfort, strengthen and support all those affected by the tragedy, Bishop Silva said. “Ecumenical prayer circles, celebrations, marches, public events and other related activities are being organized to express solidarity and offer spiritual and psychological support to families of the victims.”
Many people with serious injuries are still under treatment in hospitals, their families fearing for their lives and anxiously awaiting their recovery. “We rely on the grace of God. Such tragedies reveal to us that the same pain which weakens us also brings us closer to God and to each other,” Silva said.
Silva, who also serves as vice moderator of the ecumenical humanitarian organization ACT Alliance, pointed out challenges ahead for the Christian community in Santa Maria. “As churches we need to act in a way that people feel supported in their faith and that they can live their grief without losing hope,” he said. “We will keep proclaiming that the word of God is a word of life!”
For pastor Nestor Paulo Friedrich, president of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB), "as a Christian community, we look for a reasonable answer to the question on the causes of this tragedy. In the midst of pain and tears, we express our word of solidarity to the bereaved families and encourage them to trust in the comforting presence of God," he said.
Friedrich issued a public message of solidarity to the victims' families on Monday, 28 January inspired by the Kyrie Eleison, a biblical expression that refers to the cry of God's people as they undergo unbearable and painful situations.
During the ensuing days Friedrich has received more confirmations about the victims and their affiliation to the IECLB. “We still don’t have a final number of members among the victims, especially because many of them are being buried in other cities around Santa Maria,” he said. Friedrich is also preparing a pastoral letter to be read in over 1500 congregations on Sunday, one week after the tragedy.
Offering prayers
Santa Maria has a population of 262,000, many of whom are university students.
In the afternoon of 28 January an ecumenical service gathered thousands of people at the Saldanha Marinho square, located less than one kilometre away from the nightclub. The service was celebrated by Fr Francesco Bianchini from the Roman Catholic Church, Rev. Reinoldo Neumann from the IECLB, and Bishop Silva from IEAB.
The service was followed by a march of solidarity of some 35,000 people through the main streets of the city. Another ecumenical service will take place on Friday, 1 February at the Anglican Cathedral of the Mediator, in Santa Maria.
"We regret and mourn the loss of those young people who, in the vigor of their youth, were surprised by the fatality of the accident," said the president of the Methodist Bishops Conference of Brazil, Bishop Adonias Pereira do Lago. "Our solidarity in Jesus allows us to feel the pain that is in all those families and friends of the victims. Please count on our prayers and support," he added.
Bishop Marisa Ferreira de Freitas said among the reasons for prayer, is to analyze the security conditions of public venues and to encourage “that political leaders use financial and human resources responsibly to improve the conditions and efficiency of security supervision of such establishments”.
In a letter addressed to Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, expressed solidarity with the Brazilian people in the face of this tragedy.
Tveit underlined the positive role played by the Brazilian churches in this situation. “We received testimonies from our member churches in Brazil reporting the ecumenical pastoral efforts being made locally and nationally. Such initiatives are a clear signal of the Christian unity and solidarity that we confess in our work worldwide,” he said.
The tragedy of Santa Maria was the second worst fire in history of Brazil, after around 503 people died on 17 December 1961, in Niterói, at a circus fire.
WCC general secretary offers prayers for Brazil fire victims (WCC news release of 30 January 2013)