Bishops ask Guatemalans for commitment to faith and to life

Guatemala City, Guatemala, Feb 1, 2004 / 22:00 pm

At the conclusion of their General Assembly, the Guatemalan Bishops Conference asked the country’s Catholics to commit themselves to putting their faith in action and to seek the material and spiritual good of those most in need.

In the message, entitled “The Urgency of Solidarity and Justice,” the bishops recalled the need for “the urgent commitment of the people and of the new government in the building of a different Guatemala.”

“It is our duty to point out that the new administration will face urgent problems which the Church, without proposing technical or scientific solutions, judges to be contrary to God’s plan for the world: widespread poverty, fear and lack of safety in society, regression in the establishment of a state based on rights, the loss of respect for the dignity of the person and disrespect for life,” the bishops said.

The bishops asked new political leaders “to respond to the hopes of the people through bold and decisive actions designed to overcome the violence, the confrontation, and the marked social inequalities of the past.”

The bishops likewise proposed to new leaders “the paths of justice and solidarity as the ways through which to direct the future of the nation starting today” and they emphasized that “the Guatemala of today requires that all Guatemalans see one another as their neighbor and realize they cannot live in good conscience while their neighbor’s integral physical and spiritual well-being is not looked after.”

In this sense, they insisted that believers take on “a constant commitment to be missionaries by inviting all to the Christian faith. A faith which has many witnesses in our land and for which some have even given up their lives.”

The bishops called on “the different Christian communities, catechists, lay movements, pastors, and communities of consecrated life, to join together in this commitment.”