Urda Mourns Rail Crash Victims at Funeral Mass
The Archbishop of Toledo presided over a funeral in Urda for the 69 people who died in the railway accident, called for unity, and defended the Church's role in accompanying the families.
A funeral Mass held at the parish church of San Juan Bautista in Urda, Castilla-La Mancha, brought together relatives, authorities and neighbours to bid farewell to the victims of the railway accident. The ceremony, which began at 12:00, was presided over by the Archbishop of Toledo, Francisco Cerro Chaves, accompanied by the Auxiliary Bishop of Toledo and General Secretary of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Francisco-César García Magán. The parishes of Urda and Los Yébenes took part in the funeral celebration.
During the homily, the archbishop acknowledged that the accident has left the diocese "marked" and has moved the whole of society. He admitted that there are questions without answers in the face of a tragedy of this magnitude, and argued that the Church must remain close to those who are suffering, sharing their tears and their pain. "We want to help you light lights of hope," he told the families, aware of the difficulties they will face in the coming months, especially on significant dates.
Cerro Chaves asked that the memory of the victims be kept alive, that people "take greater care of life" and that "these immense sufferings" not be repeated. He also thanked the health workers, firefighters, Civil Guard officers, psychologists, volunteers and neighbours who took part in the assistance efforts after the accident.
Among those attending were the President of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, the mayor of Urda, Manuel Galán, and the Deputy Secretary for Health and Social Policy of the PP, Carmen Fúnez, among other institutional representatives. Before entering the church, García-Page called on "all Spaniards to unite around the pain" of the victims and their families. He highlighted the public response, both in donating blood and in collaborating, and the "immense solidarity" shown from every corner of the country, beyond political differences.
The regional president confirmed that the death toll remains at 69 and explained that the identification protocols are "extremely strict", with double verification tests, following the changes introduced after the Yak-42 accident. "I know it is terrible because we would all like the families to be able to rest as soon as possible, but it is the judicial authority and it is the law," he said. He added that the reports filed with the Civil Guard serve as a reference regarding the missing persons.
The regional government is in contact with the judicial authority to provide lighting if it becomes necessary to extend the search and evidence-collection work into the afternoon and night. In Castilla-La Mancha's hospitals, people of nine nationalities were treated, while citizens of 27 countries were travelling on the trains.
For his part, the mayor of Urda praised the solidarity of the municipality and recalled that those who assisted the victims also need support to cope with the emotional impact. That support, he said, must also extend to those who were on the front line after the accident.
4
