Catholic Church criticizes constitutional reforms that allow Bukele re -election in El Salvador

On the day when El Salvador celebrates the solemnity of the divine Savior of the World and the 500 years of the foundation of San Salvador, this August 6, the Catholic Church made a firm criticism of the recent constitutional reform that allows the presidential re -election of the president Nayib Bukele.

The Archbishop of San Salvador, Mons. José Luis Escobar Alas, presided over the Holy Mass in the Cathedral of the capital of the country. The bishops of the Salvadoran Episcopal Conference concelebrated, with the assistance of priests, religious and laity from all the dioceses of El Salvador.

Reelection in El Salvador

In his homilyMons. Escobar Alas directed a direct message to Salvadoran legislators: “Deputies, reconsider the reforms to the Constitution recently approved by that legislative plenary in an unbalanced way.”

“For the legitimacy of a constitutional reform, the people must be consulted,” he said.

This call, the prelate said, does it “without another interest than the good of our people.”

The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved and ratified on July 31 A series of changes to five articles of the Constitution, which will allow the presidential re -election without limits, will extend the presidential mandate of five to six years, will eliminate the second electoral round and shorten the current mandate of President Nayib Bukele to unify the elections.

The legislative body is composed of 60 deputies, of which new ideas belong to the official party. Two seats are occupied by the National Concertación (PCN) party and one for the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), both government allies. The remaining three seats belong to opposition matches.

Environmental orders and migrants

Faced with thousands of people, Mons. Escobar Alas also demanded that legislators “comply with the debt they have with this people” and return “the law they repealed, which protects the environment, life and health of people, animals and plants”, referring to the prohibition of metal mining, recently revoked by the Legislative Assembly.

The Archbishop also asked the United States authorities to stop persecution against undocumented Salvadoran migrants, while demanding respect for their human rights.

The prelate called to “not criminalize them in their status just for being undocumented. They are noble people, good people, workers who have done a lot for that country and who deserve decent treatment.”

Finally, Mons. Escobar Alas denounced “the scourge of poverty” that pushes thousands of Salvadorans to emigrate, ensuring that it is the product of “economic policies that so far have not solved the most urgent needs of the great impoverished majorities.”

He concluded his homily with a call to the faithful to ask the divine Savior of the world to be able to “transfigure and transfigure the Savior, so that we can all live according to his sacred will, as true children of God”.

The massive procession of the divine Savior of the World

The celebrations for the solemnity of the divine Savior of the world began on August 5, with thousands of faithful who participated in the solemn procession with the image of the divine Savior of the World in San Salvador. The walk left from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and toured the main streets of the capital until reaching the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador.

That day, in the square in front of the cathedral the emotional representation of the transfiguration of the Lord was carried out, in which the image of Christ, dressed as Nazarene, is high and symbolically transformed into the glorious Christ, in the midst of music and fireworks.