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The distribution of food and the approach to social policy generate short circuits in the relationship between the Government and the Church - Infobae
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El reparto de alimentos y el abordaje de la política social generan cortocircuitos en la relación entre el Gobierno y la Iglesia
El último fin de semana el arzobispo de Buenos Aires y el titular de la Conferencia Episcopal Argentina lanzaron cuestionamientos a la Casa Rosada. Vínculo sinuoso y reclamos en aumento
www.infobae.com
May 28, 2024
Last weekend the archbishop of Buenos Aires and the head of the Argentine Episcopal Conference launched questions at the Casa Rosada. Sinuous bond and rising claims
By Joaquín Múgica Díaz
Short circuit between the Government and the Church over the distribution of food to soup kitchens
The relationship between the Catholic Church and the national government is not the best. It's not the worst either. There are lines of communication, but substantial differences regarding how the State addresses the sectors most affected by the economic crisis. There are disagreements that are hidden and good manners that hide disagreement.
There was never a fine tune, even though the day Javier Milei took office, the message from the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge García Cuerva , was one of support and accompaniment. A lofty voice within the hierarchical organization chart of the church in Argentina, which transmitted the official line of support in the midst of a sea of doubts that shook the population due to the arrival of an outsider to the Casa Rosada.
However, with the passage of time the bond suffered rapid erosion, which priests from different sectors began to portray in their public appearances. Last weekend the line of claims that the Church had been making regarding the implementation of social policies and food distribution escalated again.
“We must accompany people's efforts with actions and not just words ,” said García Cuerva during the homily delivered at the Tedeum on May 25. To which he also added: “Let us all also feel the strong gaze of Jesus on us today, who challenges us, who questions us, who alerts us about our insensitivity towards the most vulnerable, who demands greater commitment and closeness from us to those who suffer.” ”. There was no room for second interpretations. The message was clear and consistent.
The archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge García Cuerva (Credit: Noticias Argentinas)
The second message arrived after the religious celebration in the Metropolitan Cathedral and was sent by the president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference (CEA), Oscar Ojea , who entered a new chapter of the novel about the distribution of food by the Government . The bishop of San Isidro demanded speed from the Government in the delivery of 5 million kilos of food, which are accumulated in warehouses.
“I don't go into the reasons why they are kept, but I think that in a time of food emergency this should call us to reflection . Quickly, they have to be delivered, this sensitivity to the bread that I have and may be missing on other tables goes against everything it means, for example, when we throw away food,” she said.
The tandem messages were not coincidental. There was a decision to come out together to raise two central axes through which the relationship between the ruling party and the Church passes today: the way of addressing social problems and the delivery of food to the poorest sectors of citizens.
García Cuerva was in charge of portraying the deeper problem and Ojea the immediate one. A request for empathy with those left behind in the system and a claim for food that is stored in warehouses in the Buenos Aires suburbs and that the Government postpones its delivery. Although, yesterday morning, the presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, assured that they are " reserved preventively for emergencies or catastrophes."
President Javier Milei during the last Tedeum in the Cathedral (Photo NA)
“We do not get involved in the situation, but we believe that the food that is stored must be distributed,” they assured Infobae at the CEA. The claim remains active despite the official position. The Church is not going to respond to Adorni's expressions. They do not want to enter into a back-and-forth that will only increase the controversy. But they will continue to mark their position when necessary. They think that this is not a time to discuss the distribution of food and they do not believe in the official theory that it is reserved for a catastrophe.
Some social leaders, who have a relationship with the Church, believe that the Government's political decision is to discipline social organizations by taking away control of these foods. But, at the same time, the ruling party does not know how to distribute them because they broke all intermediaries that unite the State with the territory.
It is likely that a message similar to Ojea's will emerge from the ecclesiastical structure in a short time. This week the dissemination of the national Cáritas collection begins , which is on June 8. From that institution, a report on the social situation will be published, which they will do together with the Argentine Catholic University (UCA). It is not the only communication channel. The spokespersons of the Church will continue to insist with the claim as long as there are no responses from the Government. They apply pressure in their own way.
The Church does not want to confront the Government. And vice versa. So much so that Adorni's message, which was basically a response to Ojea, was formally addressed to Justice, after learning that Judge Sebastián Casanello ordered the Ministry of Human Capital, headed by Sandra Petovello , to 72 hours make a plan to distribute the five tons of food housed in a warehouse.
In the heart of the Catholic Church, the repeated assessments of government officials regarding the functioning of the dining rooms and picnic areas fell badly. The bishops who visited Milei on March 12 at the Casa Rosada clearly stated that they agreed with the official policy of auditing and controlling the actions of social organizations, which act as a link between the State and the people in the region. of food. But from there to not distributing food, there is a distance that generates short circuits.
La Iglesia le reclamó al Gobierno por el reparto de alimentos
La Iglesia le reclamó al Gobierno por el reparto de alimentos
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The Church complained to the Government for the distribution of food
There is agreement on the content, but not on the forms. What bothers the different sectors that make up the church is that the official discourse does not clearly distinguish those who work well. “They put everyone in the same bag. "Foods cannot be discontinued at this time ," they complained. There is a demonization of social organizations and their work, which for the Church has great value because they are the main articulators so that food reaches the people.
Some priests who work in the most humble neighborhoods believe that there is great ignorance on the part of the Government about the territory. About how the picnic areas work, what life is like in the slums, how the logistics of social containment are set up, how the Church works in those neglected sectors and what are the realities that merge in the streets of those places where the State, generally , has problems getting there.
Inside the Church there is also a lot of concern about the recessionary process that is underway and that is deepening week by week, with layoffs from large private companies. “The experience of someone who is left without a job is traumatic and affects the family ,” explained a priest who works in a suburban municipality and who knows of more and more cases of families who cannot pay the fees for parochial schools.
Different views on how to confront the economic crisis that hits the majority of Argentines, many of them aided by the Church, which absorbs the role of the State in the most remote streets of the country.
