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Mexico City, Mexico, Aug 1, 2019 / 02:57 pm (CNA).- The Catholic bishops of Mexico encouraged the faithful in the country not to become indifferent to the suffering of human trafficking victims, but to take action to fight corruption and exploitation.

“We cannot accept exploitation, we cannot grow accustomed to the suffering. Let us denounce exploitation! Because as long as human trafficking remains hidden, the traffickers will continue to act with impunity,” the Mexican Bishops’ Conference said in a statement on its website.

The statement, released for World Day Against Human Trafficking on July 31, asked Catholics to pray for those who are suffering exploitation and to boldly “denounce corruption and complicity.”

“Let us pray on this day for those suffering from this exploitation that cries to heaven and let us ask ourselves: ‘What can I do? What is up to me to do?’ God and the Blessed Virgin Mary will accompany our efforts,” the bishops said.

Trafficking has many forms, the Catholic bishops said, including prostitution, slavery, forced servitude, organ removal, forced marriage, and illegal adoption. They noted that the majority of trafficking victims – some 70% are women and girls, who are mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation.

Human trafficking empowers other human rights violations, they added, contributing to poverty, discrimination and violence.

It is important for people to know the signs of human trafficking, in order to identify and report cases of it, the Mexican bishops said.

While the Mexican state has voiced its commitment to fighting human trafficking through prevention, protection and prosecution, the bishops said a coordinated response is needed, with collaboration among churches, the media, businesses, and other leaders of civil society.

Catholics must not be indifferent to this “open sore” in society, they stressed, but should be aware of the phenomenon “and how it operates in order to be able to intervene.”

The bishops of Mexico thanked movements within the Church that fight human trafficking and aid its victims. They particularly mentioned Talitha Kum, a network led by religious sisters who have served 10,000 trafficking survivors in 77 countries. The sisters accompany victims to shelters and aid them as they return home.

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La Paz, Bolivia, Nov 11, 2019 / 04:47 pm (CNA).- The Bolivian bishops have urged an end to the vandalism that has taken place following the resignation of president Evo Morales on Sunday.

Supporters of Morales have clashed with police in several cities.

In a Nov. 10 message, the bishops’ conference, along with several civic groups, encouraged “Bolivians to peace and to not commit acts of vandalism or revenge or anything we could regret. We all have a grave obligation to defend the lives of all Bolivians.”

They also pointed out that “what’s happening in Bolivia is not a coup d’état, we say it before all Bolivian citizens and the entire international community.”

“In the name of God we tell you: stop the violent acts and let us preserve life and the peace. Let us maintain the peaceful spirit that has reigned in the people in this time,” they said.

Morales resigned Nov. 10 after weeks of protest regarding a disputed Oct. 20 election. The socialist leader had been in power since 2006.

According to the electoral commision Morales won on the election’s first round, but the opposition claimed fraud. The Organization of American States said Nov. 10 that there was “clear manipulation” in the election, and that it was statistically improbable that Morales had won by the margin needed to avoid a runoff.

Within hours of the OAS report, Morales resigned, after being encouraged to do so by the head of the Bolivian armed forces.

In both La Paz and El Alto, Morales’ supporters have clashed with police, and more than 20 people have reportedly been injured.

The deputy head of the Senate, Jeanine Anez, has said she will serve as a caretaker president until elections are held.

Morales has been offered asylum by Mexico.

The Bolivian bishops and civil leaders said, “We call on the National Police and the Armed Forces of the nation to urgently fulfill their constitutional role in defense of property and people, preserving the lives and freedom of everyone.”

“We are all in agreement in proposing to the National Assembly of Bolivia a constitutional and peaceful solution in order to shortly have  constitutional president with the task of forming a new electoral tribunal and bringing us to new elections so that the entire people may express their opinion in freedom and peace,” they continued.

Luis Fernando Camacho, an opposition leader, reportedly placed a Bible on the Bolivian flag in the presidential residence after Morales resigned, saying, “Pachamama will never return to the Palace. Bolivia is Christ’s.”

Bishop Krzysztof Bialasik Wawrowska of Oruro spoke with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language sister agency, saying that when the news of Morales’ resignation came, “at that moment all the people gathered together to celebrate this fact, practically as a victory, because we were already living in a dictatorship and the people knew that they didn’t want to become like Venezuela.”

“At this moment there’s a big celebration in Oruro’s main square and they just called me to go there and pray and thank God for this grace of freedom that he has given us,” Bishop Bialasik said.

The bishop said Bolivia must “form an electoral tribunal as soon as possible for the new elections. This could take about three months to find the people, the leaders that can lead the country over the next few years.”

With these leaders, the Bishop of Oruro concluded, Bolivia may have “more hope, and also the life and dignity of people … may also be respected.”

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Barinas, Venezuela, Aug 8, 2017 / 03:40 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The crisis in Venezuela continues to deepen following elections for a Constituent Assembly promoted by President Nicolás Maduro. In its wake, the bishops of the country, supported by the Vatican, have continued to speak out against potential fraud in the elections and to demand an immediate solution.

Bishop José Luis Azuaje Ayala of Barinas, vice president of the Venezuelan bishops’ conference, told CNA that “we are very concerned about the complexity of the situation,” above all “because of the moral degradation that has become present in the country”.

“There is large number of murders that, according to the national prosecution, number 121 deaths. Of these, 25 percent have been murdered by state security agencies and 40 percent by groups of armed civilians sympathetic to the regime. There are more than 1,500 wounded, with more than thousands of detainees, in little more than three months, give us a hellish picture that would make any person or institution worried about the lives of citizens at stake,” he said.

The United Nations Human Rights Office has warned the Venezuelan government over the use of excessive force against protesters.

This disorder and violence is compounded by the shortage of basic products such as food and medicines, which “is the result of dire governmental policies, of improvisation, of wanting to establish a socialism without humanist support, and in its place generating a permanent conflict plagued by corruption and violence,” Bishop Azuaje said.

Bishop Azuaje affirmed that all bishops of the country “hold the hope that every historical process has a beginning and an end” and “that what happens to us is not eternal, but is destroyed as time goes on.”

They hope this despite the fact that “every day we feel a greater repression of the government through different state agencies or feel the same because of fear of certain groups. It is forming anarchy in the national consciousness; that is to say, the government has lost its legitimacy and authority. “

Constituent Assembly and constraints

The prelate, like much of the international community, is convinced of fraud in the electoral process surrounding elections for a national Constituent Assembly. The process, initiated by president Maduro, will reform the constitution, which opposition members claim will allow Maduro to remain in power indefinitely.

The assembly has already removed from office attorney general Luisa Ortega Diaz, who had faulted the Supreme Court for stripping the National Assembly of its powers earlier this year.

Last week, the company Smartmatic, which is in charge of the electronic voting system for the election, confirmed manipulation of electoral results. The bishop said the revelation “did not surprise us.”

“On Sunday, (July) 30 we could see with our eyes the small amount of participation of the people in the elections. In this way a direct, informal, but experiential audit was made,” Bishop Azuaje explained.

“Before six o’clock in the afternoon, which was the official time of the closing of the tables, they sent to speak to one of the observers of the National Electoral Council to announce that there was an immense number of people remaining still in lines to vote, and the vote was extended for another hour. I looked at the school that is close to the diocesan see where there were several polling stations and it looked like a desert. They tried to make people believe that there were voters at that time. There’s nothing more false. It was like the official announcement of fraud. “

After the election it was also revealed that “before and during the electoral process for the Constituent Assembly, many people were coerced and threatened to attend to vote,” the bishop alleged. “There are stories of people who are Catholic, are part of our parishes and almost confess as if it was an unforgivable sin. They feel humiliated because their freedom was restricted, because they were threatened that they would lose their jobs or benefits received in government social programs.”

Dialogue with the Vatican

The representative of the bishops’ conference also addressed the Vatican-facilitated dialogue process that took place in Venezuela between the government and the opposition in 2016.

The bishop denounced the result, which, in his view, was “a feigned dialogue on the part of the government without any result.”

“Whenever this government has been at a disadvantage, it has asked to dialogue; but it is always the same script: dialogue is used to gain time and advance in the hegemonic project of totalitarianism and greater power of domination,” Bishop Azuaje stated.

“The Holy See has always been aware of what is happening in the country. Both Pope Francis and the Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin, are well informed of the country’s problems. They have always been willing to mediate, and we thank them for that. But experiences teach. The failed dialogue from October to December has taught that governments like this should have something more than goodwill,” he said categorically.

He also explained that the Vatican “has reminded the government that to return to the table, they must meet what was agreed in October of last year, and recorded by Cardinal Parolin in the letter addressed to President Maduro on December 1, 2016.”

This agreement states that the government must commit to “setting an electoral calendar, the release of political prisoners, the opening of a humanitarian channel to let food and medicines enter the country, and return power to the National Assembly.”

In the bishop’s view, the real solution involves a “total change of government through general elections,” perhaps beginning with a “possible transitional national government.”

However, he noted that “we can not forget justice” because “there has been a lot of corruption and violence” and “those responsible for this can not be left uninvestigated.”

Regardless of how the political situation in Venezuela ends, however, Catholics must live and react to the crisis facing the country.

“A Catholic in the circumstances in which we live must be a permanent promoter of the common good, solidarity, and justice,” the bishop advised. “It is not a time of adornment, but of going to the essential, to what gives meaning to life.”

“We know that nothing will be easy when working for the good of the community, but Christians have a fundamental belief that the power of the Holy Spirit  not only animates us, but enlightens us in walking the narrow way. It offers us challenges, but it gives us its strength, ” Bishop Azuaje said.

“I want to go to the extreme of saying that a Catholic can not bend to exclusionary policies, much less the voracious corruption that exists in the country, nor raise his hand to strike the dignity of anyone,” he added.

“A committed Catholic should demand justice and work for the people with the sole interest of developing processes that lead to greater human development,” the bishop urged.

Alvaro de Juana contributed to this report.

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