AMERICA/COLOMBIA - Indignation and sadness for the destruction of two statues of the Virgin Mary

Montelibano (Agenzia Fides) - The season of Advent presents the Virgin Mary as the woman who waits, with ineffable love, for the fulfillment of the promise of salvation, for this reason "it causes great indignation and sadness, in this time of joyful hope, the desecration of the images of the Blessed Virgin, causing them to collapse from their pedestal and totally destroying them". This was stated by Monsignor Farly Yovany Gil Betancur, Bishop of the Colombian diocese of Montelíbano, condemning the acts of vandalism that occurred against the images of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the neighborhood of La Lucha and at the entrance to the municipality of Montelíbano, sub-region of Alto San Jorge cordobés. In his statement, the Bishop complains that "these actions of religious intolerance, which threaten the freedom of worship, have been repeated on several occasions. These acts deeply wound the faith of the Catholic Christian people of the Montelibanese community".
Furthermore, he emphasizes that "religious freedom seeks the good of all, when there is respect for difference and when the various manifestations of faith are tolerated; we all have the right to our own beliefs and to express them according to our own traditions and customs". The diocese has filed a complaint to the competent authorities, asking for an investigation into these facts "which demonstrate a flagrant attitude to religious intolerance". Finally, the Bishop prays to God for "the conversion of those who have committed this sacrilegious act" and urges the faithful of the diocese "to join in prayer for those who generate violence with their acts of religious fanaticism, so that they change their mentality, and so that such acts are not repeated, which hurt the religious feelings of a people rooted in faith". (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 17/12/2021)

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