Bishop Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez
Bishop Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez, leader of the Upper New York and Susquehanna conferences, has offered two episcopal statements to his members in less than a week addressing grave local and national concerns.
The first letter was published Sept. 18 in response to fatal shootings of police the day before in York County, located in South Central Pennsylvania. The other, published Sept. 23, responded to requests for the bishop’s general outlook on “pressing issues confronting our nation and world.”
The tragic killings of three police by a gunman with an assault-style rifle was the second deadly police-involved incident in that area this year and “has left our region shaken,” Burgos-Núñez wrote. He mourned the loss of three police officers in an attack that left two others critically wounded.
“Now more than ever, we need one another,” he urged. “And now more than ever, our neighborhoods need the Church – proclaiming the gospel, living it boldly, and embodying God’s love with all people. Let us be present, compassionate, and faithful in our call to peacemaking.”
Read his full statement Also, AP story: Officers killed in rural Pennsylvania.
This week the bishop penned a second statement due to many requests for him to respond to “the pressing issues confronting the United States and the world.” But he did so with some hesitation.
“We are living in a time when opinions, no matter how well-intentioned, often deepen division rather than build understanding,” he cautioned. “I feared that adding mine might only amplify the noise and contribute to the chaos so many are already struggling to navigate.”
However, Burgos-Núñez continued, “the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit” gave him a solution. “Don’t share your opinions. Tell them about Jesus.”
“And so, I write to you today,” he explained, “not to comment on headlines or controversies, but to speak from a place of humility and deep conviction about the One who shapes my life, my leadership, and my hope.”
Read commentary: Jesus’s Life is Not an Option
John W. Coleman
The Rev. John W. Coleman is Editor-at-Large for United Methodist Insight.