February 2, 2023 / 6:20 p.m
The priests of the Diocese of Concordia (Argentina) called on the State to combat the “diabolical plague” of drug trafficking and violence in the region.
The priests once again referred to the social situation, just as they had done in 2021 with their statement “The dignity of our brothers cries out to heaven”, in which they expressed their concern “for the high rate of poverty in our city”.
The new statement focuses on “the repeated cases of violence between gangs, situations of reckoning or robberies that in all cases end with the death of a person.”
At this, they remembered the question “Where is your brother?” that God formulated to Cain when he had already murdered his brother Abel.
“Your brother’s blood cries out to heaven, it is God’s response to the first fratricide that Holy Scripture tells us about. Today God asks each of us the Concordians the same question again; And, what is our answer?”, asked the priests.
Along these lines, they made a call to “get involved as a whole society to live in peace, in a city that, precisely, bears the name of Concordia.”
“Being architects, builders of peace is what each one should demand. Banish all kinds of violence, which is always brewing first in the heart,” they encouraged.
The priests especially addressed the powers of the State at its different levels, requesting “that they assume what is their responsibility in the fight against crime, especially drug trafficking.”
“In you, society has placed the responsibility of managing resources for the realization of the common good, for a city at peace,” they recalled.
They also referred to the city “infected by drug trafficking” and warned that “this diabolical plague” is growing “by leaps and bounds.”
“Those who must fight against it in some cases are indifferent, in others inoperative and in others, painfully, complicit in its expansion,” they lamented.
“In Concordia we are facing a true emergency situation in terms of security,” they denounced.
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For this reason, they urged the Security Council of the Municipality of Concordia “to look for ways to provide an urgent response to this emergency.”
Finally, addressing the community, they encouraged them to “dream of living together in true peace.”
“Here we are as a Church ‘with open doors and going out’ that ‘welcomes life as it comes’ and ‘goes out to meet life as it is’”, they declared.
