By: El Conde De MonteCristo
In the midst of a convulsed political situation, the Archbishop of Lima (Peru) launches a political diatribe before the Lord of Miracles.
The catechesis of the Lord of Pachacamilla to the bishop:
A few weeks ago, the Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio, referred to the most popular devotion in his archdiocese—the procession of the Lord of Miracles—as a “little tradition,” mixing concepts and saying that the true tradition is that of the Gospel. You don’t have to be a scholar to understand that one thing is popular tradition and another is the Holy Scriptures.
But let’s take it easy: if the “little tradition” bothers him so much, why did he give permission to the Brotherhood of the Lord of Miracles to take the Moreno Christ to Callao? The answer is simple: the diocese of Callao was administered between 2020 and 2021 by Monsignor Robert Prevost, the current Pope Leo XIV. The then Bishop Prevost, in just over a year, won the affection of all the chalacos (the word used to refer to the faithful of the place), leaving an indelible mark. While in Lima, Castillo forbade his priests from going out into the streets to spread the word of God and administer the sacraments, Prevost brought out the Most Holy Sacrament to encourage the faithful in their homes. While in Lima, Castillo hired his closest friends with high salaries; in Callao, Monsignor Prevost installed an oxygen plant.
Although the decision may have been very political on Castillo’s part, the Lord had his plans: thousands of faithful waited for him as he passed through the main avenues of the city, demonstrating that this “little tradition” is the best pastoral care that the Peruvian people have, and it is the way in which all the faithful of Lima and Callao love and ask God. Is it hard to understand that?
Message of disunity from the bishop
But Holy Father, a concerned religious writes to you about the bad gestures of the Archbishop of Lima who boasts of being your friend and says he won’t move him until he’s 80 years old… what are we paying for, Holy Father?
Peru has been living for several years in great political convulsion due to the serious polarization that engulfs it. Left, right, center, all without exception label and fight each other, taking advantage of the needs of the Peruvian people. In the midst of all that murmur that you know well, isn’t it better for the Church to give a message of hope and unity, and not to take sides?
A few days ago, a march was held called by Generation Z, a kind of facade that the left sector moved to call young people, entire families, etc. In the midst of a mix of demands—for citizen security or disgust against politicians—a young man died from a bullet in a confusing confrontation against an undercover police officer. The first investigations pointed to the young police officer as responsible, but the days passed and the facts became known in all their dimension. The police officer was running for his life, as a group of young people, including the one who died, were chasing him to beat him; in that way the police officer shot at the ground and, unfortunately, the bullet ricocheted. Beyond the facts, in a situation like that, isn’t it better for the Church to stay on the sidelines or call for calm? Does the Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio, forget that he is a pastor to all, to the young people, to the police, to those who demand justice? Or is his position to side with those who demand with violence? Does Cardinal Castillo measure those things and what the word we expect from a pastor means? Doesn’t his communications director, Juan José Dioses, give him a picture of the confusion we live in?
The caudillo came out and he forgot that he is a pastor
But no, Carlos Castillo used the only beautiful thing he could do in his sad government of Lima, taking the Lord of Miracles to Callao, turning the mass with the chalacos into a political balcony to mark his repugnant position, mixing things and facts and, worse, forgetting that he is a shepherd of souls and not a caudillo leader.
On another occasion, he accused without restraint that all the young people were called terrorists: “Young people today have been accused of being terrorists when they are not, and we must listen to the voice of the young people. Brothers and sisters, a new generation is being born that wanted to express its voice and first they killed two, and they retreated.”
Killed two? Who, for you, Mr. Castillo, killed that young man? Because there’s only one dead, if you didn’t know. Has he already killed the second boy who’s in the hospital? Doesn’t he know that the police officer who shot did so in self-defense and that within the group chasing the police officer was the boy who died? What does he defend? Violence? You are the Archbishop of Lima, the shepherd of souls, not a left-wing political caudillo.
Validation of violence
But let’s continue with his speech: “A friend told me: And where are those young people, why have they run out of batteries? And I told him: You’re right, but have you seen them dance in the squares, have you seen them in all the dance groups and now they dance everywhere and now we have them in all the parishes, why do those young people dance, because they yearn for harmony, that which the country is not.”
Eminence, that day many people marched, families, elderly people, who are tired of the insecurity in the country, but radical groups also marched, spurred on with a single objective: to attack people! Look at the photos, for God’s sake…
On top of that, he recalled Pope Francis: “Pope Francis told me, if that is the germinal hope, when I was in your country, among the indigenous people of Madre de Dios, and they told their testimonies and I told them that the dream they are saying there is the project of Peru, in their dreams is the project of Peru and hope.”
Cardinal, indeed there are many young people who still have hope, who expect leaders to guide them for good, not Church members who only teach hate. Worry better about your priests, about downsizing the large payroll of friends you have in the archdiocese. Dedicate yourself to building parishes, and don’t spend money on synods to validate your thinking; the Church is not democratic, it follows a tradition, it is hierarchical and a dogma: Jesus Christ. Stop watching only El Chavo del Ocho and take responsibility for your actions and stop dividing the country more. Scum! Scum!
We hope that today, October 28, the Lord looks upon his people with love and grants him another pastor worthy of this people who loves God.