Church in Puerto Rico to hold 24 hour prayer encounter amid protests

San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jul 22, 2019 / 10:40 am (CNA).- The Puerto Rican bishops' conference announced Saturday it will hold a 24-hour prayer encounter this weekend, in the face of the territory's social and governmental instability.

Protesters have been calling this week for the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rossello.

Earlier this month, crude messages from a group chat among Rosello and some of his team were published in the media.

More remotely, his administration has faced pressure over corruption and its response to the territory's debt crisis, economic recession, and Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island in 2017.

Rosello announced July 21 that he will not seek re-election next year, but he intends to complete his term.

The Puerto Rican bishops' conference said July 20 that it will hold a day-long prayer encounter at the National Sanctuary of Mary, Mother of Divine Providence in San Juan. The encounter will begin and end with Mass on the evenings of July 26 and 27, with Eucharistic Adoration in between.

“We invite the People of God to participate and to unite in prayer at a crucial moment of the history of Puerto Rico,” read the message signed by Bishop Ruben Antonio Gonzalez Medina of Ponce and Bishop Eusebio Ramos Morales of Caguas, the president and secretary, respectively, of the bishops' conference.

The bishops emphasized that the encounter will be an opportunity to contribute to the correction of Puerto Rico's “complicated social, political, and economic situations.”

“Under the mantel of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Divine Providence, Patron of the whole of the Puerto Rican mation, let us implore the mercy of God for our people and that the wisdom of the Holy Spirit be poured out upon our leaders,” the bishops concluded.

“Let us make this convocation in faith and in confidence in God the Father who walks with his people.”