NewsWhore
02-17-2011, 03:30 PM
The Catholic Church hierarchy in the Dominican Republic has warned that the country is living through a time of uncertainty, poverty, crime, impunity and other evils that impede a dignified human existence, as reported in Diario Libre.
In a message with the title "500 Years in the Defense of Human Dignity" issued yesterday on the occasion of the commemoration of the 167th anniversary of Dominican Independence (27 February), the Conference of Bishops said that in the face of a situation rife with theft, contract killings, drug trafficking, public officials involved in criminal acts, administrative corruption, political patronage and insecurity "we cannot build a country that is free, sovereign and independent as was conceived by the father of the nation, Juan Pablo Daurte."
The Conference of Bishops mentions that on 8 August the country will celebrate the creation of the first three dioceses in the New World and on 4 December the Advent Sermon by fray Anton Montesinos in 1511.
Recalling the words of Montesinos in defense of the destitute, the bishops asked what justice is there when entire populations suffer insanitary conditions in our rural areas when a little help would enable them to build drinking water storage and distribution systems. They criticized the authorities for the reality that more than 20% of the population does not have birth certificates and a right to a name and nationality.
They asked, "where is justice when it tolerates a situation where young people do not have the opportunity to be educated, and if they do, they get tired of the schools because they do not see any return on what they are learning and abandon their studies in the first years", which they (the bishops) attribute to an educational system that allegedly is consumed by a vicious circle with many teachers with degrees to improve salaries, but who do not improve teaching and learning, and a Ministry of Education with insufficient resources and without any controls to improve the educational system.
They also criticize the way that boys and girls are allowed to roam the streets without any type of protection, the result of irresponsible parents who have produced them without taking the consequences of their actions into account and of leaving these children to grow up traumatized and who allow women, girls and boys to be abused, mistreated and exploited, and in the face of which we are silent and in silent complicity.
Because of these and other problems that the bishops mention, they suggest that the society needs a change of mentality, in the name of solidarity, and to reclaim human and Christian values. They call for working together to eradicate the great evils that are affecting Dominicans.
"Now more than ever what is needed is the unification of criteria for all the leaders and institutions in the country, the family units, community sectors and all people of good will to work together. We need to have our prophetic voices channeled through patriotic ideals that benefit society as a whole and not just individuals," ends the message from the Conference of Bishops.
www.listin.com.do/la-republica/2011/2/17/177801/500-anos-en-defensa-de-la-dignidad-humana (http://www.listin.com.do/la-republica/2011/2/17/177801/500-anos-en-defensa-de-la-dignidad-humana)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)
In a message with the title "500 Years in the Defense of Human Dignity" issued yesterday on the occasion of the commemoration of the 167th anniversary of Dominican Independence (27 February), the Conference of Bishops said that in the face of a situation rife with theft, contract killings, drug trafficking, public officials involved in criminal acts, administrative corruption, political patronage and insecurity "we cannot build a country that is free, sovereign and independent as was conceived by the father of the nation, Juan Pablo Daurte."
The Conference of Bishops mentions that on 8 August the country will celebrate the creation of the first three dioceses in the New World and on 4 December the Advent Sermon by fray Anton Montesinos in 1511.
Recalling the words of Montesinos in defense of the destitute, the bishops asked what justice is there when entire populations suffer insanitary conditions in our rural areas when a little help would enable them to build drinking water storage and distribution systems. They criticized the authorities for the reality that more than 20% of the population does not have birth certificates and a right to a name and nationality.
They asked, "where is justice when it tolerates a situation where young people do not have the opportunity to be educated, and if they do, they get tired of the schools because they do not see any return on what they are learning and abandon their studies in the first years", which they (the bishops) attribute to an educational system that allegedly is consumed by a vicious circle with many teachers with degrees to improve salaries, but who do not improve teaching and learning, and a Ministry of Education with insufficient resources and without any controls to improve the educational system.
They also criticize the way that boys and girls are allowed to roam the streets without any type of protection, the result of irresponsible parents who have produced them without taking the consequences of their actions into account and of leaving these children to grow up traumatized and who allow women, girls and boys to be abused, mistreated and exploited, and in the face of which we are silent and in silent complicity.
Because of these and other problems that the bishops mention, they suggest that the society needs a change of mentality, in the name of solidarity, and to reclaim human and Christian values. They call for working together to eradicate the great evils that are affecting Dominicans.
"Now more than ever what is needed is the unification of criteria for all the leaders and institutions in the country, the family units, community sectors and all people of good will to work together. We need to have our prophetic voices channeled through patriotic ideals that benefit society as a whole and not just individuals," ends the message from the Conference of Bishops.
www.listin.com.do/la-republica/2011/2/17/177801/500-anos-en-defensa-de-la-dignidad-humana (http://www.listin.com.do/la-republica/2011/2/17/177801/500-anos-en-defensa-de-la-dignidad-humana)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)