Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Santa Cruz (Agenzia Fides) - In a press conference on 30 June the standing committee of the Bishops' Conference of Bolivia presented the local Church's proposal and explained how it intends to have it accepted by the Constituent Assembly and society in general. Present at the press conference president of the Bishops' Conference Cardinal Julio Terrazas Sandoval Archbishop of Santa Cruz; Conference vice president Archbishop Edmundo Abastoflor of La Paz; Conference secretary Bishop Jesús Juárez, of El Alto; Archbishop Tito Solari of Cochabamba.
The participants spoke of four institutional and doctrinal issues: Church-State relations, education, the family and life. Archbishop Abastoflor recalled the Church's position with regard to article 3 of the Constitution, a position expressed in a Letter in April from the Bishops' Conference to the People of God (see Fides 25/4/2007). The Archbishop recalled that they had asked for the article to be changed because it gives the impression that the Catholic Church has privileges compared to other religious communities in the country. He said it is important to take into account the social, historic and sociological situation of the Church in Bolivia, with about l80 per cent of Bolivians Catholic and a long tradition in the history of Bolivia.
Archbishop Tito Solari presented proposals with regard to education to guarantee the right of parents to choose the education for their children, that there exists a diversity of schools and that religion must be a regular school subject. He recalled the state's duty to protect marriage, the family, maternity and that the Church demands recognition for marriage as a communion between a man and a woman. With regard to life, the Church demands respect for life from conception to natural death.
Cardinal Julio Terrazas said the Church will always be present to meet the needs of the country, education, formation, work, all that serves for a life of dignity. "We wish to make it clear that the points mentioned are not privileges they are values which must be sustained because they are the foundation of the common good and human service starting from our faith".
The Cardinal called on all Bolivians to take part in a National Day of Prayer on 27 July: "we need to pray for the power of the Lord of Life and not to fear change…we will pray for God's light to open horizons, dispel the shadows and helps us recognise one another as human persons, to accept one another and accept another person's point of view". The Bishops' Conference has launched a signature campaign to support its proposals to the Constituent Assembly. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 2/7/2007; righe 39, parole 548)
