Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug 29, 2007 / 09:24 am
Caritas Argentina has noted that the national Day of Solidarity which was celebrated on August 26, also coincided with the birthday of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta and was a reminder of her commitment to be in tune “with the pain and suffering of those most excluded” and her example of “service and love.”
Bishop Fernando Maria Bargallo, president of Caritas Argentina, noted that “solidarity is such a part of the Argentinean people that it makes us proud to see it spontaneously manifested in response to so many emergencies and adversities.”
“The suffering of others moves us because, thanks be to God, our hearts still beat with feelings,” he added.
However, he noted, “the enormous poverty and marginalization that so many still suffer should make us strengthen and sustain this solidarity that defines us a people.” “We need to transform solidarity into a fundamental social virtue, as defined by John Paul II,” the archbishop said.
He concluded his comments by encouraging Argentineans to express their solidarity with those affected by the August 15 earthquake in Peru.