Bolivia: Bishops of CELAM join the local Church to ask for peace

Given the events that occurred on Wednesday afternoon in the city of La Paz (Bolivia), when soldiers broke into the Government Palace, the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM) expressed its closeness to the local Church and the Bolivian people.

War tanks and heavily armed military personnel were deployed on Wednesday in the vicinity of Plaza Murillo, the main square of the national capital, where the headquarters of the Bolivian Executive Branch is located, in an event that was cataloged by the President Luis Arce as an attempted coup d’état.

CELAM joined with a message voiced by the Bolivian Episcopal Conference (CEB), in the face of the “attempt to disturb the democratic and constitutional order.”

In its cartaaddressed to the president of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference, Mons. Aurelio Pesoa Ribera, the CELAM authorities supported the call for peaceful coexistence and the search for solutions through dialogue carried out by the CEB.

“We feel deeply united to the Church that is pilgrim in Bolivia and its pastors, encouraging them to continue making present the message of fraternity and commitment that allows us to advance towards paths that seek the common good, which is the basis of democracy, for all Bolivians” , says the letter.

Likewise, it expresses special closeness to those who suffer the most from the consequences of the social situation that the country is going through, asking that this reality be resolved soon through institutional and democratic means.

Finally, CELAM asked for the intercession of the Holy Spirit, to “enlighten the people and their representatives to find paths of peace and harmony in this beloved Nation.”