Faith beyond injustice: we live 31 years of abuses but I never stopped clinging to God

The story of the Argentine lawyer Lourdes Colombres Garmendia is proof that faith relieves pain and transforms the fire of injustice into strength. For more than three decades his family suffered a serious abuse that prevented them from enjoying family heritage.

“We live 31 years of abuses but I never stopped clinging to God,” he summarizes. The origin of the conflict was his grandmother’s will, of great patrimonial value, which designated an albacea for the execution of his will.

“The appointed person never executed the will and deprived us for 31 years of being able to use and enjoy what corresponds to us by law. The judicial process was systematically violated, violating Argentine constitutional guarantees and rights: due process and the right of property,” explains this civil lawyer to Aci Prensa shortly after having participated this Saturday with her mother in the Jubilee of Justice, one of the quotes of this Holy Year.

The process occurred in the province of Salta, to northern Argentina, where – as he says, “unfortunately there is no impartial and independent judiciary.” “There are many cases of corruption and violation of due process,” he laments without going into details, this lawyer who now works in Tucumán, Argentina.

He knows well what he’s talking about. She herself assumed her mother’s legal defense in this succession trial. “I had to fight a corrupt and feudal judicial system,” he says.

This whole process ended in tremendous personal wear and tear that coincided with the death of his eldest daughter and the disease of his youngest daughter. “It was a very big weight, but I never stopped fighting for what is fair,” he recalls.

In those moments, in what he felt lost, he found great relief in prayer. “Even being persecuted for our thirst for justice, my faith along with the help of the Holy Church became peace sources.”

For her the spiritual dimension was the engine of its resistance. “During these 30 years, our mother, the Virgin, never released us from her hand: Our Lady of Luján, the Virgin unleashed, Santa Mama Antula and Holy Father Pío sustained us,” he describes.

In fact, after 31 years of litigation, the cause was finally resolved. “The sentence was published minutes after we consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on June 27, 2025. We never stop praying the Rosary as a family or receiving the Eucharist daily,” he says.

Hope in pain

When asked how he managed to keep the faith alive when it seemed that justice would never come, Lourdes responds serenity: “With hope and convinced that our mother, the Virgin Mary, does not release us from her hand. Clinging to her. The only one who does not abandon us is Jesus, and only he is enough. Everything else happens. God does new things. We give ourselves to him with patience and strength.”

However, he acknowledges that the ramks of life were not easy to process. What hurts most is “having seen innocent people suffer.” For example, his aunt – who was also his godmother – and who died without economic possibilities, “with many pains”, despite having had the right to family inheritance.

“He died without seeing justice. That is the wound that is most difficult for me to close,” he details.

Pilgrim in the Jubilee

After the sentence, Lourdes and his mother traveled to Rome to participate in the Jubileo de la Esperanza. They had already participated in the Jubilee of 2000, waiting for the change of millennium with San Juan Pablo II. However, 25 years later they wanted to return together to thank God “the thanks received in this quarter of a century.”

“We come to look for hope and forgiveness. We can all make mistakes and sin, but also forgive. If we forgive, God forgives us. In this life we ​​are passing and we have to behave as well as possible. God is so merciful that if we open our hearts, he renews it, he tells us that you can start over and forgive without hatred,” he concludes.