The Catholic Church in Argentina is organizing a mass in La Matanza to focus on the most vulnerable sectors and the distribution of food. The event, which will take place on Wednesday, will be directed by Monsignor Óscar Ojea and seeks to avoid the politicization of the ceremony.
In an interview with Chain 3, the priest for the Curas Villeros summit, Pablo Viola, explained that there will also be a similar ceremony in Córdoba. It will be on Thursday the 20th at 11 in the morning in the chapel of Villa Angelelli and officiated by the archbishop of Córdoba, Ángel Rossi.
Viola emphasized that these masses should not be confused with other recent celebrations that have had a political overtone. “One thing is what this mass is and another thing is the mass that we are organizing for these days,” she explained.
However, he said that “he is not concerned about the spontaneous expressions of the people” and said that this “is being afraid of the people expressing themselves” and is judged “by sectors that look at reality by constructing stories.”
/Home Embedded Code/
/End Embedded Code/
According to Viola, these new masses (like the one on Wednesday in La Matanza and the one on Thursday in Córdoba) seek to recognize and value the women who work every day in the neighborhoods to feed those most in need.
“We want to recognize the women who work every day in the neighborhoods in different places such as a small house, in a garage, in a chapel, in a community hall, in a neighborhood center and they do what they do not have to to be able to bring food to our people and they take care of life and feed it,” he said. “It seems to us that they are truly the mothers of the country,” she said.
In this context, the priest harshly criticized the current discussion about whether food should be distributed or not: “We should be ashamed.” Viola also pointed out his concern about the accusations against some social movements about misappropriation of funds intended for social welfare: “Walking in the neighborhoods I have seen how they were transforming the life of the neighborhood in real and concrete terms.”
/Home Embedded Code/
/End Embedded Code/
In this sense, he said that the worst thing that can happen to the Church is “to distance ourselves from reality.” “There are soup kitchens in the surrounding area that have closed, and there has been an increase in need and other soup kitchens that have had to reduce the number of days they serve because they do not have the financing they had before,” she said.
Finally, he called for reflection and action: “The best thing would be for everyone to eat at home the fruit of their work. It is shameful that in Argentina we are discussing this.”
Interview by Luis Fernández Echegaray.
