The President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, participated this Saturday in the Cathedral of Santiago in the Solemn Ecumenical Prayer for the people of Chile.
The activity was also attended by authorities from the three powers of the State, from the Constitutional Convention, and representatives of different religious denominations.
There, the Archbishop of Santiago, Cardinal Celestino Aós, insisted in his homily that we all “belong to God and not belong to the State,” and that by going to help those most in need, the great objective, more than giving money, is “allow a decent life through work”. In the same way, he emphasized the co-responsibility of all Chileans in “initiating and generating new processes and transformations.”
It was a “Prayer for Chile and the new Government”, a traditional ecumenical ceremony in which recollection also gave way to joy and hope for the future of the country, in the midst of “a functionalist and privatizing model that inexorably leads to the throwaway culture.
The liturgy began at 11:30 am and was celebrated by Aós, who was accompanied by representatives of different faiths present in Chile. Similarly, Catholic bishops, members of various religious denominations and civil organizations participated. During the ceremony there were mentions of the war situation in Ukraine and calls for peace.
“Today, especially today, we pray for you, Mr. President; We pray for you, authorities and rulers, legislators and judges, as Solomon requested: that God enlighten his minds so that they know what is good and what is bad, what is just and what is unjust. And so that they can work to achieve it and unite their wills in projects and common causes”, urged Aós.
“Politicians are called to worry about the fragility, the fragility of peoples and people. Taking care of fragility means strength and tenderness, struggle and fertility, in the midst of a functionalist and privatizing model that leads inexorably to the culture of discarding”, she warned.
On the other hand, regarding the challenges facing Chile today, Monsignor Aós emphasized the fundamental aspects of human life and coexistence.
At the same time, he lamented the difficult circumstances experienced by the country in recent years, due to the pandemic, political and social violence, the attacks in La Araucanía, and crime, “which have shown the dirty face of our country.”
“It hurts us, it worries us, it worries us. Sowing violence is not life but death, it is not progress but regression”, she stressed.
Overcoming the consequences of these events is not only the task of those who exercise public responsibilities, but of all Chileans, emphasized the Archbishop of Santiago. And an example of this, he specified, lies in the need to respect the measures adopted to combat Covid-19.
“We are here renewing our conviction that we cannot expect everything from the rulers, but that each one of us is responsible for the good of all. We have experienced the tension and suffering verifying that a group of compatriots was not willing to collaborate with health measures to combat the pandemic, that a group of compatriots resorts to violence to achieve their goals, “he said.
