AMERICA/VENEZUELA - The Bishops: Venezuela has become a sort of "foreign land" for everyone

Tuesday, 20 March 2018

foto: Medios

Caracas (Agenzia Fides) - Yesterday, March 19, feast of St. Joseph, the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference sent a message to the people of God and to people of good will in which he reminds "all political, social and economic leaders", that what is done "to each of our brothers who live in worse condition, is done to Jesus himself". In the text, sent to Fides, the Bishops say that Venezuela "has become a sort of 'foreign land' for everyone ... for the claim of wanting to set up a totalitarian, unjust, inefficient, manipulative system, where the rule is to stay in power at the expense of people's suffering".
The situation in Venezuela is increasingly dramatic, due to the lack of food, medicines and other products, in addition to the lack of electricity that prevents the normal development of daily life, as confirmed by the "National Survey" of the living conditions of the Venezuelan population (ENCOVI) (see Fides 24/2/2018) according to which 9 out of 10 families do not have the resources to access the minimum necessary goods and cannot pay for their daily food.
In the text of the message, the Bishops, recalling their declaration of 29 January, exhort: "Listen to the cry of the people!" They are asking to be heard. "Promises or small gifts aimed at making slaves and making unproductive people are not enough. There is no time to waste, it is time for a real change".
The Bishops recall that in the end "we will be judged by the love with which we have lived and worked", warn leaders about the power they hold, because "all power is ephemeral".
Finally, the Bishops exhort "to carry out significant gestures of mercy and charity towards those who truly feel the need for an expression of tenderness and solidarity", and to keep alive the memory of those who were killed for having claimed the values of democracy in the country. "May the light and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit accompany us to help come out of the crisis that affects everyone in Venezuela in a just, peaceful and human way", the Bishops conclude. (LG) (Agenzia Fides, 20/03/2018)


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