Retired archbishop calls for release of protesters amid Venezuela crisis

Quito, Ecuador, Jun 14, 2019 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- The Ecuadorian bishops’ conference expressed Thursday their rejection of the recognition of same-sex marriage by the Constitutional Court, and recalled that a marriage is comprised of one man and one woman.

The Constitutional Court recognized gay marriage June 12 in a 5-4 decision.

The minority opinion stated that “the proper avenue for recognizing marriage equality is the procedure to amend the constitution, which is the competency of the National Assembly.”

The majority opinion judges stated that they based their decision on one by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights and by interpreting Article 67 of the Constitution of Ecuador “in light of the constitutional norms favorable to the equality of persons and which rejects all types of discrimination.”

In a statement published June 13, the bishops pointed out that “the Constitutional Court under no argument is entitled to reform the content of the Constitution of the Republic including the concept  of marriage, defined in its Art. 67 as the union of one man and one woman.”

The prelates also noted that “two judges on the Constitutional Court were morally and legally impeded from participating in processing these cases, as they have been lawyers in cases advancing this cause and advocates of marriage equality before being appointed judges and moreover, they previously publicly expressed their criteria in support of this claim.”

The Ecuadorian bishops recalled that “the definition of marriage, as the union of a man and a woman was approved by the Ecuadorian people through the referendum held in 2008, with 63% of the vote, precisely to protect and strengthen the institution of marriage which is the only one that guarantees the continuance of the human species and its free development, therefore five judges simply cannot go against the sovereign will of Ecuadorians.”

The bishops reaffirmed their commitment to respect for human rights regardless of “age, race, sex, religion, sexual orientation or culture,” and reiterated their desire to “promote marriage between a man and a woman … as the foundation of the family and of society, an institution that must be recognized and guaranteed by the Ecuadorian Government.”

The bishops said that the recognition of marriage and the family is finally a “religious freedom right, recognized by the Secular State of Ecuador.”

In conclusion, the bishops committed to “teaching children and young people that marriage according to the Christian faith is the indissoluble union between a man and a woman and that, as a fruit of that love, children are born for society and the Kingdom of God.”

[…]

Haitian police officers deploy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 9, 2024. / Credit: CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Images

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 11, 2024 / 16:20 pm (CNA).
The archbishop of Port-au-Prince and president of the Haitian Bishops’ Co… […]

Jinotega, Nicaragua, Jul 25, 2018 / 03:31 pm (ACI Prensa).- Two churches in the Diocese of Jinotega in northern Nicaragua have been desecrated in the past week, amid rising tensions between the Church and the government of president Daniel Ortega.

At a pro-government celebration July 20, Ortega accused the bishops of Nicaragua of plotting a coup, as they have proposed early elections in response to widespread protests against the government.

The Jinotega diocese announced on Facebook that the night of July 22, uknown persons forced open the window of the Sacred Heart chapel of St. Mark the Evangelist parish in San Rafael del Norte, about 15 miles northwest of Jinotega.

They took the tabernacle containing the Blessed Sacrament, without touching anything else, reported Fr. Noé Armando Flores, the parish priest.

The tabernacle was found later in the day of July 23 in an abandoned field.

And in Jinotega, the chapel of Our Lady of Mt Carmel at Most Precious Blood parish was profaned the night of July 20.

The Blessed Sacrament was desecrated, and the diocese showed photos of a broken window and sacred objects strewn on the ground. Sound equipment and a collection box were stolen.

At least eight Catholic churches have been desecrated in Nicaragua during the country’s three months of political and social unrest.

Protests against president Ortega which began April 18 have resulted in more than 300 deaths, according to local human rights groups. The country’s bishops have mediated on-again, off-again peace talks between the government and opposition groups.

Barricades and roadblocks are now found throughout Nicaragua, and clashes frequently turn lethal. Bishops and priests across the country have worked to separate protesters and security forces, and have been threatened and shot.

Nicaragua’s crisis began after Ortega announced social security and pension reforms. The changes were soon abandoned in the face of widespread, vocal opposition, but protests only intensified after more than 40 protestors were killed by security forces initially.

Anti-government protesters have been attacked by “combined forces” made up of regular police, riot police, paramilitaries, and pro-government vigilantes.

The Nicaraguan government has suggested that protestors are killing their own supporters so as to destabilize Ortega’s administration.

The Church in Nicaragua was quick to acknowledge the protestors’ complaints.

The pension reforms which triggered the unrest were modest, but protests quickly turned to Ortega’s authoritarian bent.

Ortega has been president of Nicaragua since 2007, and oversaw the abolition of presidential term limits in 2014.

The Church has suggested that elections, which are not scheduled until 2021, be held in 2019, but Ortega has ruled this out.

Ortega was a leader in the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which had ousted the Somoza dictatorship in 1979 and fought US-backed right-wing counterrevolutionaries during the 1980s. Ortega was also leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990.

[…]