AMERICA/MEXICO - Bishops: communion and solidarity with the suffering of the people of Venezuela

Friday, 9 June 2017 hunger   solidarity   local churches  

Mexico City (Agenzia Fides) - "United as a Church, we launch an appeal to show communion and solidarity with the suffering of the people of Venezuela", writes the President of the Bishops' Conference of Mexico (CEM) Cardinal Robles Ortega, and the Secretary, His Exc. Mgr. Alfonso G. Miranda Guardiola, in a message addressed to Bishops, priests, religious women, lay people of the Mexican dioceses and "especially to people of goodwill".
"The already unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Venezuela worsens day by day, as food and medicine shortages are increasing", they wrote in a message sent to Fides. The rise in inflation, which caused the collapse of the health system, together with violence, has left the population without access to nutrition, health care and basic public services. "This crisis is in particular affecting the most vulnerable, including Venezuelan children".
Some indicators of "this humanitarian catastrophe in which our brothers are immersed" are cited. 82% of Venezuelans currently live in poverty. Cumulative annual inflation is 700%, the highest in the world, and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) forecasts a 1200% increase in 2018. Health is deteriorating due to a serious shortage of over 85% pharmaceuticals products. The situations described above have led to illnesses that were thought to have been eradicated, including malaria, diphtheria and tuberculosis. Acute malnutrition of children under 5 years of age has tripled in less than two years and exceeds WHO's severity thresholds.
CEM therefore launches an "emergency call" for an extraordinary fundraising that can be achieved at an individual level or through a "Special collection" on June 18 or June 19 or another weekend this month. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 9/6/2017)


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