The archbishop of Córdoba, Angel Rossigave a homily dedicated to women who work in the community kitchensin a clear gesture of support for the members of social movements questioned by the government of Javier Milei, and targeted those who have the “audacity to criticize, judge and condemn” to those who collaborate with the poorest people.
In a mass coinciding with the Flag Daythe cardinal acknowledged in his message to the volunteers and activists that “they are clear that, in the face of human dignity trampled“We are not allowed the crossed arms of the indifferent nor the drooping arms of the fatalists.”
In tune with the message of the president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference (CEA), Monsignor Oscar Ojeawho He also presided over a ceremony in support of community kitchens in La MatanzaRossi emphasized that “the service” provided by these women “is not a question of fashion or ideologies,” but rather a “theological requirement”. And he quoted words of Jesus: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.” This commitment is not only a religious responsibility, but also a “civic obligation,” said the priest.
The cardinal praised the role of these women, not for their titles or positions, but for their motherhood and their capacity for “genuine solidarity.” “The commitment of these women who, heroically, ratify it every morning with an exercise practiced in terms of affection, humanity, and cordial treatment. We champion them not as statesmen, not as political scientists, not as welfare activists, not as militants. We champion them for something much bigger: we champion them for being mothers“, he claimed.
With harsh words, Rossi pointed out that “being supportive” is not “the practice of some kind, sporadic gestures, but rather it makes our identity as people.” “They help us not to become infected, as the Pope says, with the symptoms of a sick society, which seeks to build itself with its back to pain and which “has the nerve to criticize, judge and condemn without distinction those who do what perhaps we, due to laziness or cowardice, do not dare to do.”.
“While we often spend time talking and talking, these women have the ability to listen the cry of those who live in troubled waters. The cry of the poor is the cry of the little ones who suffer from hunger. It is the cry of unschooled children, of those who are addicted to drugs. It is the cry of those who face the storms of life without a friendly presence in solitude,” the cardinal remarked.
“It is not just serving dishes and food, but it ends up being the pretext, because between dish and ladle the heart goes, and they tell it things and cry and share life. They challenge us to be protagonists“, part of the solution to this drama and this struggle, and not become mere spectators of this tragedy, contemplating this horror film from the seat of our indifference or our complicit negligence,” he added.
The cardinal shared two testimonies to illustrate his position. The first was a story about Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who, while bringing rice to a hungry family, witnessed how the mother of that family shared the food with another family in need. This gesture, according to Rossi, symbolizes “forgetting oneself” and “not taking care of one’s own little house, and letting others take care of it.”
The second testimony was a personal experience of Cardinal Rossi in the 1970s with the leadership of Jorge bergoglio They opened a diner in a poor neighborhood of San Miguel. The priest recalled how the Supreme Pontiff urged them to open the establishment without delay, emphasizing that “hunger cannot wait for tomorrow.”
The prelate ended his homily with a call to follow the example of the martyrs of the Catholic Church and to ask the Virgin for her continued protection. “No turning back. No crossing your arms. No sterile lamentationswhile we have a drop of blood left to spill, a few coins, to distribute a little energy and spend a word to say… A breath from our heart, a little strength in our hands or our feet that can serve to give glory to the Lord and to do a little good for our brothers,” he concluded.
