Suriname observed a National Day of Mourning on Friday with an ecumenical service at the Cathedral Basilica, addressing the profound grief following the devastating Commewijne tragedy that claimed nine lives, including five children. Bishop Karel Choennie led the solemn ceremony, delivering a powerful sermon that explored the incomprehensible nature of evil while emphasizing communal solidarity and spiritual comfort.
Addressing a congregation united in sorrow, Bishop Choennie selected Matthew 11:27-30 as his scriptural foundation, highlighting Jesus’ invitation to those burdened by life’s heaviest loads. “Jesus speaks not to those who have everything in order,” Choennie articulated, “but precisely to people like us today: weary, broken, and heavily laden with grief.” He clarified that faith offers no simple explanations for such tragedies but creates space for mutual comfort and shared suffering.
The bishop addressed the additional complexity arising from the subsequent suicide of perpetrator Dennis Aroma in police custody, acknowledging this development deepened the community’s confusion. “Some questions remain temporarily unanswered,” Choennie noted. “Rather than judging, we must carry our pain together. This isn’t weakness—it is humanity.”
Central to his message was the Christian symbolism of the cross as representing both senseless suffering and divine proximity within that suffering. Choennie encouraged attendees to entrust their grief, helplessness, and unanswered questions to God, whom he described as “not absent in any tear, but intimately near.”
While acknowledging persistent sorrow, the bishop simultaneously called for hope—not as an eliminator of pain but as a destination for carrying that pain. He specifically requested prayers for surviving victims still fighting for their lives in hospitals and for all families shattered by the violence.
The service concluded with heartfelt gratitude expressed by victims’ family members toward the community for their moral support. Bishop Choennie ended with an urgent appeal for social cohesion, stating: “Let us look out for one another, remain vigilant for signals of distress, and build tightly-knit communities. Only together can we bear this grief and gradually rise again.”