AMERICA/ARGENTINA - "More must be done against poverty," said the Episcopal Head of the Social Pastoral

Buenos Aires (Agenzia Fides) - "The Church is concerned about the level of corruption in the Country," said Mgr. Jorge Lozano, Bishop of Gualeguaychú and head of the Social Pastoral of the Episcopal Conference of Argentina, after a meeting with the Secretary General of the trade union " CGT Azul y Blanco ". The Bishop of Gualeguaychú recalled that Argentina is among the Latin American nations with the highest level of corruption and this condition "is not a present situation, but goes back to decades past."
In an impromptu press conference, Mgr. Lozano welcomed the government's work and the efforts of social partners, "much has been done against poverty," he said, but added that "more must be done, since it is not sufficient ".
In a note sent to Fides, Mgr. Lozano also recalled that "many people have escaped from poverty, but there is still much to do because our prosperity is not always distributed equitably." The Episcopal Head of the Social Pastoral also points out that "almost half of those who have a job, is not registered and therefore these people lack access to social aid, salaries and wages are rather low and some are real slaves" . "We still need to do more work in the social field and therefore the Church wants to encourage dialogue between the parties to find the best ways to overcome this situation," concluded the Bishop.
Argentina is among the four countries of the region that has experienced the greatest success in the fight against poverty, with a reduction of 2.7% per year. In all of Latin America in 2010, the last official figures available, the poor were about 177 million, 31.4% of the population. Of these, 70 million are "suffering from poverty or extreme poverty".
(CE) (Agenzia Fides 14/4/2012)