AMERICA/COSTA RICA - Bishops to MPs: "only wear the shirt of Costa Rica"

Saturday, 15 February 2014

San Jose (Agenzia Fides) - "One needs to take off the shirt of their respective political parties and wear only one of Costa Rica": with this metaphor, the Bishops of Costa Rica urged politicians elected in Parliament to act for the common good. As reported to Fides, Mgr. Angel San Casimiro Fernandez, Bishop of Alajuela, and Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica, urged the 57 legislators to act in the pursuit of truth and good of Costa Rica". Mgr. Casimiro Fernández expressed himself after the publication of the final document of the 107th plenary assembly of the Episcopal Conference, calling on all those who are involved in politics to follow values such as respect for human dignity and human rights, social and economic needs of all citizens. The Church-policy dialogue goes on in the country at different levels: Mgr. Gabriel Enrique Montero Umaña O.F.M. Conv, who will be ordained Bishop of San Isidro next March 1 (see Fides 08/01/2014), met the candidate-president of "National Liberation", Johnny Araya, recalling that "citizens have the right to ask rulers why they have failed to reduce poverty in the country", repeatedly promised in the past.
In the vote on 2 February, Costa Rica elected Parliament but will go to a runoff on April 6 to choose the president, between Luis Guillermo Rivera Solís of the "Accion Ciudadana" party (who got the first round of 30.84 % of votes), and Johnny Araya Monge, of the "national liberation" party, who obtained 29.64 % of the votes. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 15/02/2014)


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