Santiago, Chile, Aug 13, 2010 / 09:52 am
Bishop Horacio Valenzuela of Talca is calling for prayers each day at noon for the 33 miners who have been trapped for a week in the San Jose mine in Chile.
The bishop asked the faithful to pray an Our Father and a Hail Mary at noon each day to show spiritual solidarity with the miners, their friends and family members.
“May God allow something good to come from our suffering,” the bishop said. “For this reason, this intense sorrow over the miners is an occasion for us to unite as a country and be strong for them,” he continued, adding that the true riches associated with the cooper mine are the miners who work there.
“Prayer is always an opportunity to unite as a country, and no doubt the results will always be better. I invite you to prayer wherever you are: at work, at school, on the bus, at home. Thanks to this the families of the miners will not be alone in their suffering,” he said.
Bishop Valenzuela added that the accident should lead to a review of the safety and security measures that are in place.
Chile’s Minister for Mining, Laurance Golborne, said the chances of finding the trapped miners alive are minimal.