fr. hoyos' brother

Bishop Loverde Mourns Death of Priest’s Brother

By Alfonso Aguilar
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 7/5/07)

Jairo Hoyos Salcedo, brother of Fr. Jose Hoyos, killed along with other 10 ex-congressmen in Colombia

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde released a statement on the death last week of Jairo Hoyos Salcedo, brother of Father Jose Eugenio Hoyos, director of the diocese’s Spanish Apostolate.
“Our prayers and hearts are with the entire Hoyos family as they mourn the untimely death of their son, brother and father,” wrote Bishop Loverde. “I join my prayers to so many in the wake of such a tragic loss of life.”
Salcedo, 63, was among 11 civilians who died under still unclear circumstances. All lawmakers from the Valle del Cauca state, they were abducted in 2002 by the Revolutionary Arm Forces of Colombia (FARC).
According to reports, they were victims of crossfire between FARC rebels and an unidentified military group. Colombian president Alvaro Uribe denied any involvement in the killings, but the FARC blamed him for sending a military command to rescue the prisoners.
“It is a very sad moment. If they had not killed them in more than five years, no one was expecting that they would do it at all,” said Father Hoyos.
In a video released last year by the FARC to prove internationally that the prisoners were alive, Father Hoyos’ brother said:
“Friends and relatives. Carmelita, my wife, today more than ever I remember you, I pray for you and for myself. I remember the 37 years we spent together and our attendance at religious events at the Basilica del Milagroso de Buga.
“I pray for our children Diego, Jhon and Efraín, and for our father and mother, our brothers and sisters, cousins and nieces.
“Members of the government and the men of FARC, follow the rules of engagement, play fair, you, like us, are dying, but Colombia will live on and history does not forgive. Today much is forgiven in the hope of future gains, peace today or death tomorrow.”
A memorial Mass for Jairo Hoyos and for peace in Colombia was celebrated Monday at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Falls Church.