Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Oberá (Agenzia Fides) – Oscar Sanchez, a 14-year ethnic Qom weighed 11 pounds and died from the consequences of malnutrition in the hospital of Chaco. The "Clarin" newspaper published in evidence the words of three Bishops: His Exc. Mgr. José Slaby, Bishop of Esquel, His Exc. Mgr. Pedro Olmedo Rivero, Bishop of Humahuaca, and His Exc. Mgr. Damian Bitar, Bishop of Oberá. The Bishops launched strong warnings about the "terrible reality" of child malnutrition and the spread of poverty in Argentina in recent years.
The note sent to Fides, reports the statements of the Bishops in their presentations of the annual collection "Mas por Menos" (More for less), which was held this past weekend in the country. At the base of the Bishops’ intervention is the report published a few days ago by the Argentine Catholic University (UCA), which report worrying figures: 11 million poor people in Argentina, 2 million people suffer from poverty, and the most alarming data is that 950,000 young people under 18 suffer from food insecure.
Mgr. Damián Santiago Bitar, who is also a member of the Episcopal Commission for Social Pastoral, told the press that "the collection takes place in a context of structural poverty that does not yield nor decreases. I appeal to all Argentines to solidarity, to help people in need, alone and abandoned, near us". (CE) (Agenzia Fides 14/09/2015)
