Pope Francis prays for Bolivia on the 199th anniversary of independence

Pope Francis was present, through a letterin the celebrations of the Bolivian people as this Tuesday marks the 199th anniversary of the independence of the South American country, asking for them the intercession of Our Lady of Copacabana.

In a letter addressed to the president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Luis Arce Catacora, the Holy Father sent “congratulations and best wishes to all the sons and daughters of Bolivia.”

The Pontiff begged Almighty God, “through the intercession of Our Lady of Copacabana, to grant that noble People prosperity and to continue walking in the search for the common good and fraternal coexistence.”

The Plurinational State of Bolivia celebrated on Tuesday, August 6, a new anniversary of its independence, achieved in 1825. The Archbishop of Santa Cruz, Mons. René Leigue Cesari, presided over the Ecumenical Tedeum with a strong call to be “one flock, one nation, one country.”

“We have so many opportunities, we have wealth in Bolivia, we know that. But what do you do with wealth? Do we know how to exploit it for the good of all? ”She stated. “What we have not had, perhaps, is luck with our leaders, that they really work for the good of all, that they are responsible, that they are honest, that they fight against corruption,” he considered.

Heading towards the bicentennial, the prelate called to put aside differences and walk with respect and forgiveness: “Let us reach two hundred years reconciled, loved by God and forgiven among ourselves,” he asked.

For his part, the president of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference and Apostolic Vicar of Beni, Mons. Aurelio Pesoa Ribera, presided over the Misa for the anniversary of Bolivia in the Holy Trinity Cathedral, on the day when the Church celebrates the Transfiguration of the Lord.

In this framework, he focused on the “deep crisis” that the nation is going through, with uncertainty and without short-term solutions, emphasizing “the most vulnerable brothers” who “are suffering the consequences.”

For this reason, he called on the authorities to offer answers by “leaving out ideologies and allowing themselves to be illuminated by reason, by truth and even by the advice of those who know,” as well as abandoning “the blindness that confuses us and leads us to justifying the unjustifiable, even leads us to the absurd, without wanting to see what is happening.”

The prelate urged the construction of a “transfigured” homeland, with a vision of faith so as not to lose hope, a country in which “charity and solidarity guide our lives and our actions, seeking the common good and the progress of our people.”