Papal agency raises funds to help Christians remain in the Middle East

Cardinal Celestino Aós Braco of Santiago de Chile peaches at a Te Deum service marking Chile’s independence, Sept. 18, 2022 / Iglesia de Santiago

Santiago, Chile, Sep 19, 2022 / 13:06 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Celestino Aós Braco of Santiago de Chile said in a Te Deum prayer service marking the country’s independence that neither violence nor corruption will build Chile. 

The prelate encouraged living centered on Christ to bear good fruit and working together for the common good.

The cardinal gave a homily at the ecumenical Te Deum that was held Sept. 18 in the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral in the presence of the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, and his ministers of state.

Chile’s Fiestas Patrias marks the anniversary of the first meeting of the country’s post-colonial government in 1810. 

“Violence does not build. The violent neither make a present nor a future for Chile, nor do the corrupt build it,” the prelate said.

“We cannot make the other person who doesn’t think like us into an enemy. The people voted in the plebiscite and it’s wrong to do violence with insults or threats to those who voted one way or the other,” he stressed.

In a Sept. 4 plebiscite, 62% of voters rejected a draft constitution that created a right to abortion and euthanasia and was supported by Boric. 

The cardinal also encouraged people to live the authentic freedom that comes from Christ, to face the current “cultural, ideological, economic, and social slaveries.”

The archbishop of Santiago stressed that the large voter turnout in the plebiscite is an impressive fact, “but political participation does not end or stop there.”

“Christians should get involved in politics because it is a lofty form of charity. Among us all we have to build Chile, a country of brothers, where no one is unnecessary and no one is marginalized,” he emphasized.

In his homily, Aós encouraged always seeking “prayer, Sunday Mass, and the sacraments, which are not a luxury, but a necessity for all” in order to bear good fruit, united with God.

“There is an unequivocal criterion, by their fruits you shall know them,” the cardinal said.

“The person who lives in violence, who slanders or insults his adversary, who violates marital fidelity, who kills life, who falsifies or lies, does he bear fruit from the good tree or from the bad tree, always peace and good, unity and harmony,” or does he produce “bitterness, disunity, hatred?” the cardinal asked.

The prelate encouraged getting involved in politics to defend the people’s essential rights, such as “dignity, the equality of citizens, seeking the common good, justice and peace, favoring democratic participation, acting with honesty and transparency in the administration of public goods, caring for and fostering life, family, marriage, the right of parents to educate their children, social justice and solidarity, and the defense of peace.”

The archbishop of Santiago noted that “religious freedom is a right of every human being.” Hostility or contempt for religion is not a healthy separation of church and state but virulent secularism, he said.

Aós said that “the big question is what kind of fruit have you borne this year, what are you going to change to bear good fruit. Faith and works are important, it’s not enough to have ideas and beliefs, you have to put them into practice.”

“Let’s not tire of doing good, because if we don’t give up we will reap the fruits at some point,” he remarked.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

[…]

null / Rena Schild via Shutterstock.

Lima, Peru, Jun 28, 2022 / 15:30 pm (CNA).
Pro-life leaders from all over Latin America expressed their joy as they celebrated the June 24 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, which le… […]

Lima, Peru, Jul 15, 2020 / 02:25 pm (CNA).- A group of Franciscan sisters in Ica, Peru, is offering a facility free of charge as temporary quarantine housing for coronavirus patients who are asymptomatic or experiencing only mild symptoms.

The temporary shelter was dedicated July 14 in La Tinguiña, Ica Province, one of the regions still under lockdown due to the large number of COVID-19 cases.

According to local media, the mother superior of the convent, Mother Rosa Fernández, made the commitment to provide rooms at no cost to infected people who need to quarantine until they are no longer contagious.

The rooms each contain their own bed and bathroom, with everything sanitized. The facility is the first of its kind in the region.

During the opening ceremony, Fernández asked God to bless the people who have made this initiative possible, as well as all who will use the facilities, that the Lord may restore their health “as soon as possible.”

“If our humble house can be of any use, well, here it is,” she said.

Local government and health officials were on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the housing facility, which will provide 30 beds.

The mayor of La Tinguiña, Juan Roque Hernández, stressed that Fernández is providing the housing for free.

“[She] is not charging us a dime for the room,” he said.

In previous statements to local media, Mayor Hernández stressed that the temporary housing complies with healthy and safety protocols, and its use help create “an epidemiological fence that reduces the number of cases in the region.”

The mayor stressed that this initiative also seeks to raise awareness among the people on the importance of temporary housing for people with COVID-19 in order to prevent the spread of the virus in the community.

According to the Ministry of Health, Peru has had more than 330,000 cases of the novel coronavirus with more than 12,000 deaths. The country ranks fifth worldwide in the number of COVID-19 cases, and the Ica region has more than 9,000 cases to date.

To prevent the pandemic from advancing, the country’s government declared a mandatory national lockdown from March 16 to June 30. However, some areas remain under lockdown due to the high number of new daily cases.

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

[…]