The Church and State in a Current Showdown of Violence in Bolivia
In a note sent to the news agency S.I.R. on January 12, 2018, the General Secretariat for the Bolivian Episcopal Conference (CEB) condemned the armed police entry into the Convent of St. Francis in La Paz.
They had come to arrest four demonstrators who were protesting against the new provisions of the penal code.
“This case is particularly alarming,” declared the CEB, “for it occurred in a sacred and protected place.” The note recalls that throughout history, “the Church has always been a place of welcome and protection for all those who feel persecuted”.
The bishops called on the government “seriously and respectfully” to hear the voice of those who protest against the new penal code, a real bone of contention between the Church and Bolivia’s socialist president, Evo Morales. With his sights set on a fourth term, the president plans to broaden access to abortion under certain conditions.
In his sermon on December 17, 2017, the bishop of El Alto, Bishop Eugenio Scarpellini, denounced Evo Morales’ “irony and hypocrisy”, warning against the “culture of death that comes from the outside”.
Sources: SIR / AFP / La Croix / Le Point / FSSPX.News
