After its 157th plenary assembly, Ecuadorian bishops called on the country’s Catholic faithful to rediscover “the values that transform the world: coherence, peace and hope”.
In a message released on Sunday, June 29, Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, the prelates assured that “we have to return to the Gospel, to the person of Jesus, to do our values and attitudes.”
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“In our society, affected by countless social and ecological problems, the deep faith in God rooted in our people is a source of transformation and hope,” they said.
The bishops warned that “violence in the streets of Ecuador does not hurt and kills simple strangers; the wounded or killed on the edge of the road are our brothers. We cannot get used to figures and statistics. It is necessary to move us and mobilize!”
“In these times, where loneliness, polarization and abandonment grow, the Church continues to announce Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Savior. In his name, he wants to be a mother who welcomes, comforts and sustains,” they said.
They also warned that although the laws harden the “penalties and punishments”, these measures “do not heal the heart of man. For this, we must enter the wounded heart of Christ, find in him our refuge and strength rediscovering the values that transform the world: coherence, peace and hope.”
On “coherence”, the bishops highlighted that “our credibility as Christians depends on the coherence between what we say and live, which commits us not to separate the faith from history, the liturgy of the commitment, the doctrine of the service, the words of the works.”
“Let’s not be seduced by fashion ideologies or interests of the moment, let’s put the best of ourselves in the safeguard of life and creation,” they encouraged.
When referring to “La Paz”, they lamented “the dramatic and tragic situation that children, women, the sick and the defenseless in several nations such as Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Myanmar, Congo, Haiti,” and assured that the breath of Pope Leo XIV to a “disarmed and disarming peace“Convene and challenge Christians” to encounter, to dialogue, reconciliation, in our families, communities and nations. “
Finally, about “hope”, the bishops said that “the retirement year we are living reminds us that Christian hope is not passive. It is a transforming force that opens the possibility of a new story.”
Remembering the message City and the World of Pope Francis in the Easter of 2020the bishops pointed out that hope “is the victory of love over the root of evil, a victory that does not avoid suffering but crosses it by opening a path to the abyss of good, exclusive mark of God’s power.”
“What the heart of Jesus and our mother, the Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, illuminate and accompany us in our commitment to be men and women of peace and hope, in coherence with what we believe and live,” they concluded.
David Ramos
Graduate in Communication Sciences by the Private University of the North in Trujillo, Peru. With more than 12 years of experience in Catholic journalism working in ACI Press, I am based in Mexico since 2018. I have covered the trips of Pope Francis to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Panama.