Categories
- Evangelization
- School of Prayer
- Worship
- Healing and Revealing
- Catholic Renewal
- Spiritual Warfare
- Apologetics
- Obstacles on the way to God
- Reading the Bible
- Sense of life
- Covenant with God
- Community
- Catholic Church
- Business and Christianity
- Family
- Witnesses of Faith
- Danger: Occultism
- Attention! Sects
Church in Honduras: Mending, Calming, Giving Hope
25-11-2009
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, NOV. 24, 2009 (Zenit.org).- With national elections set for this Sunday, and the deposed president still awaiting to be reinstated, the Church in Honduras has plenty of challenges to address, according to a Caritas official from the nation.
Father German Calix told Vatican Radio that the first goal is supporting people in this "difficult process."
The Central American nation has been in turmoil since the end of June, when President Manuel Zelaya was deposed in a bloodless coup. Roberto Micheletti was installed as leader.
Coup leaders -- including the Honduras Congress and high court -- said Zelaya had effectively deposed himself by setting the wheels in motion to extend his presidential term. But Honduras under Micheletti's interim rule has hardly been peaceful. There have been curfews and roadblocks and at least three people have been killed by security forces.
Zelaya himself is still holed up in the Brazilian embassy, where he took refuge after sneaking back into his country in September.
According to Father Calix, the Honduran people are extremely polarized between those who favored the coup and those who support the deposed president.
Sunday's election might not bring resolve: Zelaya is calling his supporters to boycott it if he is not reinstated beforehand.
Father Calix said the Church has been supporting the tasks of negotiation and the pursuit of justice.
"Reconciliation in this country with high levels of poverty will not be complete if social justice is not re-established," he said. "In this connection, the Church wants to be faithful to that objective."
The Caritas Honduras official highlighted the role of the country's episcopal conference through its invitations to dialogue and the work of Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, archbishop of the nation's capital.
The priest said Hondurans are aware that the election will not resolve the entire issue but hope "it can be a small valve that can clear the way so the country's protagonists will find their way again and solve the problems it has."
He also pointed out the challenges the next government will have to address: difficulties in financial resources, investment, and dealing with a broad and complex social agenda.
The Church in Honduras, Father Calix affirmed, will have to help "mend the social fabric that was torn by the conflict, and channel energies."
The Church has a role of spiritual support in this time of pre-electoral tension, he said: "to always maintain hope, above all to foster it in those who at this time feel discouraged" and "unsure of what to do."
Father Calix acknowledged that peace and justice won't come immediately, and that the Church's plans are longterm.
This week, he said, peacekeeping teams for next year began training, focusing above all on internal pacification.
http://www.zenit.org/article-27653?l=english
