AMERICA/BOLIVIA - The service of Catholic education in society: a contribution to the common good

Wednesday, 14 April 2021 evangelization   bishops   episcopal conferences   formation   elections   politics  

Facebook

Cochabamba (Agenzia Fides) - The service of the Church in the field of public education, both in schools and in universities: this is the central theme of the CVIII Plenary Assembly of the Episcopal Conference of Bolivia, which was inaugurated in the Casa Cardenal Maurer of the Archdiocese of Cochabamba, and will last until April, 16. As Agenzia Fides has learned, in the opening speech, Mgr. Ricardo Centellas, President of the CEB welcomed the new members of the CEB and, as a first point of reflection, presented the theme of the service of the Church in Bolivian reality, saying: "We live a setback of values, where lies were exploited to defend interests, as the Scripture says: The soldiers who received a lot of money said: 'The disciples of Jesus came at night and stole the body while we were sleeping' (Mt 28, 12-14). A statement like this distorts the reality of the facts. There is no worse slavery than living clinging to deceptions, one's own or someone else's, as a pretext for not taking responsibility for obvious facts". The President of the CEB has continued: "Democracy is weak, unstable and without institutional support, it does not respect the dignity of the person, does not seek the common good and does not promote complementarity among all. It seems to have become an end, at the same time that it is a means to achieve the integral development of all Bolivians. Democracy is not an opportunity to exploit the few resources that Bolivia has at its disposal: it is about seeking a social pact so that through dialogue and consensus we can find what Bolivia really needs".
The bishops point out that the Church in Bolivia has become a protagonist of the country's socio-political life since the pandemic and new political figures put pressure on a population that is tired, hungry and affected by Covid.
Last Sunday, Bolivia returned to the polls after the first round of March 7, when 336 mayors and nine governors were elected, with a participation of 86% of the national register. But only a few days before, significant events took place in Bolivia: the former interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez, was arrested on Friday, March 12, on charges of "sedition and terrorism," charges linked to an alleged coup against the former President Evo Morales. At that time, the Bolivian Episcopal Conference (CEB) had urged the government to desist from "total control of power, revenge and persecution", in reference to these arrests (See Fides 16/3/2021). In the face of strong social tension, Bishop Centellas, president of the CEB, had asked, respecting due process, which is part of the fundamental rights, recognized at the international level, the immediate release of the detainees. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 14/4/2021)


Share: