Argentine priest in railway accident attributes life to Eucharist

April 21, 2017 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Mendoza, Argentina, Apr 21, 2017 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Holy Thursday Father Alejandro Béjar, a priest of the Archdiocese of Mendoza, narrowly escaped being killed by a train. He attributes his survival to consecrated Hosts he was transporting on his way to visit the sick.

The April 13 incident took place at a railroad crossing in San Roque as Fr. Béjar was on his way to visit several sick persons, in addition to saying three Masses in the communities under his care.

Fr. Béjar, 50, told CNA that he crossed the railroad tracks that day for lack of a signal and got trapped. He explained he did not see the rails because of some bushes, and that there was no railroad crossing barrier.

Trapped on the tracks he could hear the train's horn, and saw the train appear, coming around a curve.

Within seconds, he tried moving his car. He was unable to, so he quickly unfastened his seat belt and ran from the car.

His Ford Escort was struck, and dragged some 80 feet by the train, which was unable to brake in time. The vehicle was destroyed but the priest could not get over his astonishment that the bag holding the consecrated Hosts on the front passenger seat was undamaged and remained in place.

“That's strange because in the back of the car there was a bag of fine flour I was taking for the community where I was going to celebrate Mass. That bag opened up and (the flour) spread all over, but the bag (with the Hosts) didn't even move,” he said.

Fr. Béjar said he was ashamed he did not take with him the consecrated Hosts when he abandoned the vehicle, but he thanked God for saving him from the onslaught of the train.

“I thank God because I was calm and didn't despair. It was a sign from God that he was present at that moment and helped me have those reflexes to stay calm and not give up hope,” he said.

The priest was unable to get the first Mass on his schedule for that day.

Fr. Béjar noted that eight years ago two women died in similar circumstances, and so he hopes the authorities will clean up the area from bushes and put up appropriate railroad crossing signage.

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Venezuelan bishops: Country’s plight requires new president

June 25, 2019 CNA Daily News 1

Caracas, Venezuela, Jun 26, 2019 / 12:39 am (CNA).- Meeting June 21 with Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference stressed that the solution to the country’s social and political crisis requires electing a new president.

Bachelet visited Venezuela June 19-20, invited by the Nicolas Maduro regime. During her trip, she met with authorities in the country, as well as victims of human rights abuses and organizations that serve them.

In their meeting with Bachelet, the bishops offered her a letter underscoring the “grave crisis the Venezuelan people are going through.”

Under Maduro’s administration, Venezuela has been marred by violence, social upheaval and hyperinflation.

Venezuela’s socialist government is widely blamed for the crisis. Since 2003, price controls on some 160 products, including cooking oil, soap, medicine, milk, toilet paper, diapers and flour, have meant that while they are affordable, they fly off store shelves only to be resold on the black market at much higher rates.

The Organization of American States predicts that by the end of 2020, more than 6 million Venezuelans will have fled the country.

“The Catholic Church in Venezuela since 2004 has been denouncing the situation of the grave humanitarian crisis our people are experiencing. We are defenders of life in all its aspects and the voice of the pastors is to hear the cry of our people,” the bishops said.

“The massive diaspora has increased, [as well as] new forms of slavery, including human trafficking, prostitution,” they said. They also highlighted the increase in child malnutrition and the frequency of water and power outages.

In Venezuela, the bishops said, “the dignity of the human person is being undervalued.”

They called on Bachelet to “reflect the real face of what is going on in Venezuela,” in her report.

The bishops also asked that “abusive practices be eliminated” in the country, including those of irregular armed groups “that act with impunity.”

The way out of the country’s crisis, they indicated, entails “the election of a new president and the recognition of the National Assembly as an entity elected by the people.”

The bishops’ conference warned that “the crisis the country is going through finds its roots in corruption and impunity in face of the plundering of the public treasury and not simply the sanctions that have been made.”

“Before these sanctions Venezuela was already in a depressing economic situation,” they said. “The grave humanitarian crisis will be resolved if the powers that be seek the common good of all.”

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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