.- At a Mass of Thanksgiving with 20 rescued miners outside the San Jose Mine in Chile, Bishop Gonzalo Duarte underscored the vital importance of the family within society.
Bishop Duarte, vice-president of the Chilean Bishops’ Conference, thanked the miners and their families for their example of strength, solidarity, unity and drive to live. “The family is the best place to be born, to grow up, to grow old and to die,” he said, praising the miners’ loved ones for remaining outside the mine during the entire ordeal.
The bishop also offered special thanks to mothers and grandmothers, whom he called “the backbone” of the country.
He exhorted those present to trust in the justice of God, who watches over each person, and to thank him for answering our prayers. “God acts through men and women,” he said.
