A Sad Holy Week... Pain, War, Corruption, Insecurity, and Injustice.

By: Amín Cruz, PhD… Diplomat, historian, educator, journalist, writer, CEO, President and founder of the Hispanic American Press Congress and the World Press Congress, Ambassador of Latin American Journalism, resident in New York.

"Holy Week should be a moment of reflection, peace, and love."

We are living in difficult times. Holy Week, traditionally a time of introspection, spirituality, and family unity, has become a somber reflection of global reality: wars, natural tragedies, insecurity, injustice, corruption… and death.

Humanity continues to face profound crises. Yesterday it was the pandemic; today, armed conflicts such as the war between Israel and Palestine—where Gaza is being devastated—or the prolonged confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, sow the world with pain and despair. Added to this are natural catastrophes, like the recent earthquake that struck regions of Asia—Myanmar, Thailand, Bangkok, China—claiming hundreds of lives.

In the Dominican Republic, tragedy has also struck. The collapse of the roof at the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo has left at least 226 dead and hundreds injured, many in critical condition. This tragedy not only mourns the Dominican Republic but also brotherly countries such as the United States, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Spain, and Costa Rica, among others. The victims had roots in multiple cities: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, San Juan, Venezuela, Colombia, and more. It is, without a doubt, a national and international mourning.

Today, Holy Week is no longer the same. Gone are the days of silence, prayer, reflection, and introspection. The beaches, once deserted, are now filled with noisy crowds. Hotels are overflowing, and recreational activities, often excessive, overshadow the true spirit of these sacred dates… How can we celebrate, how can we rejoice, when the entire country is in mourning?

This should be a moment to pause. To look inward. To understand that life is fragile and fleeting. What we are experiencing is not just an isolated tragedy; it is a warning about the path we have taken as a society. We need spaces for reflection—family and personal—guided by wise voices: doctors, psychologists, priests, pastors, social leaders. Let us talk about the value of human life, about the importance of love, peace, and justice.

Holy Week commemorates the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, offering us a unique opportunity for forgiveness, reconciliation, and introspection. As Bishop Josu Iriondo says: "Lent is the opportunity to look at our lives, find the desert areas, and grow in the hope that the desert can bloom."

The world has changed, but it has not necessarily evolved. Today we speak in numbers: deaths from accidents, femicides, street violence, unpunished crimes… Statistics have become a routine that numbs the collective conscience.

Therefore, I make a call to all world leaders, to international organizations such as the United Nations, to governments, and to every citizen: let us renew our faith and hope. Let us walk toward global reconciliation. Let us promote a more just, supportive, and peaceful humanity. Let us overcome divisions, hatred, confrontations, corruption, and impunity. Let us strengthen the family as the essential core of social change.

God is love, and as His word says, He is the beginning and the end. It is time to return to Him, whoever your God may be, from your faith, from your humanity. Lent should lead us to shed ego, resentment, and envy, and open ourselves to inner change.

I want to close this reflection with these words: Let us not wait for others to change. Let us change ourselves. Because when you change, the world around you changes too. Evil is not outside: it dwells within you and me. And only when we confront it with humility and honesty do we open the door to a better society, where good news can flourish.

“Afterward, I want nothing but peace, a nest of constructive peace in every soul, and perhaps, regarding the soul, the swarm of kisses and oblivion” – Pedro Mir.