We are in a time of elections that coincide with the 40 years of uninterrupted democracy that we have been experiencing in our country. A democracy that promoted both social achievements and more and better health and public education in the construction of a more participatory and community society. And clearly, we are all concerned about the social, existential and economic consequences that affect us.
In this context, some adverse comments became public about the convenience and opportunity for the Church and/or priests to get involved by expressing political opinions about the situation that—we know— It included insults and insults to Pope Francis himself.
I want to go back to the times of the creation of our Constitution (1853) and remember an outstanding figure in our history: Fray Mamerto Esquiú (1826-1883), Franciscan religious, beatified in 2021 and on his way to sainthood. He was always close to the most needy and vulnerable, attentive to the common good above the individual. He knew how to understand, with actions and words, the union and development of our Country. Priest and later bishop, he became involved in the politics of his time and from there he sought and provoked understanding and unity among his people, starting with the famous “Sermon of the Constitution.” The text of the sermon was printed and distributed by decree of the President.
Our history records many cases of religious and lay people who gave their lives for the social justice and the unity of the country. Those who despise the village priests or the lay people who accompany the fight to apply the Social doctrine of the church For everyone, they have a very diminished or sectorized memory. We are contemporaries of a presidential candidate whose most used tool is his verbiage—almost verbose—to attack and insult. And with those effective manners and phrases he intends to reach the highest position in the country…
Let us not be fooled by false prophets or followers of slogans full of hatred and lack of listening. Aggression is never a solution, much less for the defenseless. The Pastoral of the towns and popular neighborhoods shares with closeness and affection the struggles that neighbors give every day in caring for life, facing the shortcomings and valuing what a present State and an organized community means.
The mass that the village priests celebrated together with lay people, believers and non-believers, in redress for the outrages against Pope Francisco On September 5, it was raised as a clear gesture of a Church that expresses itself through prayer. Church that was spokesperson for the hundreds of thousands of parishioners who were represented with the presence at the altar of more than 70 priests who signed the document they shared at the end and the almost 10,000 people who filled the streets around the Parish Our Lady of Caacupé, in Barracas. Pope Francis deserves to be able to reach an Argentina that—even in dissent—celebrates the most recognized Argentine in our world today.
Let’s reflect. Let’s search always the common good through love of neighbor. Let’s not lose or let them destroy what we have been achieving for our most humble neighborhoods, let’s remember the effort and lives that were left along the way.
Here’s to 40 years of democracy without clownish agitators who promote methods that can lead us to the abyss.
For 40 years of democracy taking care of the earth, our common home and the lives of the weakest and most marginalized.
For an organized community that, with joy, continues to contribute, share and distribute sovereignty and social justice throughout our Homeland.
*The author is director, screenwriter, audiovisual producer and founder of Pastoral Villera.
by Walter Pena
