2016-04-13 09:30:00

Liberian Bishops commend nations’ health workers


At the end of their plenary assembly, this week,  Liberian Bishops in West Africa have issued a pastoral statement in which they commend the nation’s health workers for their selfless service during the Ebola virus outbreak.

“We acknowledge their tremendous sacrifices during the fight against the recent Ebola virus epidemic in which some of them lost their lives. May their souls rest in peace. With the sporadic reoccurrence of the Ebola Virus Disease, we urge you to continue to show the same commitment in saving lives. We also appeal to our people to continue to observe all health protocols with regard to Ebola. We commend the efforts being made by all stakeholders in improving our health care facilities,” reads the pastoral messagein part.

On 14 January this year,  the World Health Organization declared the end of the most recent outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in Liberia and said all known chains of transmission had been stopped in West Africa. There has been no flare-up since. Liberia says it now has in place a robust Ebola surveillance and response system.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Liberia (CABICOL) meeting in the capital Monrovia also denounced, in their pastoral statement, “any attempt by anyone or institution to promote same-sex marriage, abortion and contraceptives in Liberia.” They further committed themselves to the strengthening of pastoral and catechetical programmes in the dioceses with the view of deepening and strengthening the faith of Liberians. The pastoral statement is signed by the three Bishops of Liberia.

(engafrica@vatiradio.va)

Below, the full Pastoral Statement:

PASTORAL MESSAGE OF THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF LIBERIA (CABICOL) AT THE END OF THE FIRST PLENARY ASSEMBLY HELD FROM THE 5TH – 10TH APRIL 2016 AT THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC SECRETARIAT GAYE TOWN, OLD ROAD, MONROVIA

Preamble

 We, the Catholic Bishops of Liberia, having held our first Plenary Assembly from 5th – 10th April 2016, under the theme: ‘The Relevance of the Church in Liberia Today: Evangelization, Health, Education, Social Works, Justice & Peace and Mass Media’, do bring you greetings in the Risen Lord. Having prayerfully reflected on the theme, we joyfully communicate to you the following pastoral message:

Evangelization

We recognize that our fundamental mission as a Church is to proclaim the Good News as mandated by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ “in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). We commend our priests, religious, catechists and all the laity who give their time and resources in the realization of this mission. We commend in a special way our seminary formators, novice masters and mistresses for their efforts in the formation of young men and women for the priesthood and religious life. We commit ourselves to the strengthening of our pastoral and catechetical programs and to helping our Laity deepen and strengthen their faith as we urge all to avail themselves of opportunities for spiritual growth. We thank sincerely our missionary institutions for collaborating with the Local Church in our pastoral works. We look forward to working with you always!

Health

We commend our selfless health workers for their efforts in the provision of care to our ailing brothers and sisters. We acknowledge their tremendous sacrifices during the fight against the recent Ebola virus epidemic in which some of them lost their lives. May their souls rest in peace.

With the sporadic reoccurrence of the Ebola Virus Disease, we urge you to continue to show the same commitment in saving lives. We also appeal to our people to continue to observe all health protocols with regards to Ebola. We commend the efforts being made by all stakeholders in improving our health facilities and we ask that you continue with the same.

In line with your medical code of ethics and the values of the Gospel, we encourage you to continue to promote and preserve the culture of life from the womb to the tomb.

With the formation of the National Catholic Health Council (NCHC), we are certain of a more coordinated approach to health related matters, complementing the efforts of government in the service of the Liberian people especially in the most abandoned parts of the country. We encourage you to continue these invaluable services to our brothers and sisters without discrimination.

Education

We are cognizant of the fact that our recent history has had an adverse effect on our education sector.

In agreement with the Second Vatican Council declaration on Christian education (Gravissimum Educationis, no. 1), we know that every person has an inalienable right to education. Thus we recommit ourselves to complement government’s responsibility to provide quality education in our country. However, we strongly recommend the equitable provision of subsidies to schools in the private sector.

We highly appreciate the endeavors of the men and women helping to mould the minds and spirits of our sons and daughters in our schools. We strongly call on them to be honest, dedicated, upright and dutiful in the discharge of their responsibilities. We especially appeal to our Religious Education teachers to dutifully and conscientiously prepare our children not only for exams but also and most importantly for life; inculcating in them basic life skills and the values of the Gospel.

Social Works

We affirm with gratitude the enormous work being carried out by CARITAS, the social arm of the Church. We laud the efforts of our partners, the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Catholic Action for Overseas Development (CAFOD), CARITAS Internationalis (CI) Caritas Germany, MISEREOR, and all those helping us to reach out to the most vulnerable and needy of our society. In view of the fact that charity is the supreme law of the Church (cf John 13:34; 1 Cor 13), we renew our resolve to reach out to the poor and disadvantaged throughout our country at all times.

Justice and Peace

The promotion of the fundamental and inalienable rights of all remains a primary concern of the Church. Over the years, our Justice and Peace Commission has been and continues to be in the vanguard of the defense and the promotion of human rights. Founded in November 1991, during one of the darkest moments of our history, the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) was one of the lone voices that spoke against the moral, social and economic degradation of our nation to the extent that its founding father, His Grace Archbishop Michael Kpakala Francis is referred to as “the conscience of the nation”.

We remain dedicated to this noble cause as enshrined in the Second Vatican Council Document, The Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes, no.1): “The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ”.

Mass Media

We recognize the indispensable role of the media in the spread of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We appreciate our brothers and sisters of the Fourth Estate working assiduously for the dissemination of information.

However, we call for a responsible use of the media. Freedom of expression does not negate responsibility. We denounce the irresponsible use of the media especially on some of our Radio Talk Shows, most of which are characterized not by issues of national concern but by attacks of personality. We also caution all, especially our youth, for the responsible use of the social media.

 In addition, we recognize that there are laws that tend to prohibit the exercise of free speech and freedom of expression. We must reform them rather than use these laws against our citizens.

SOME NATIONAL CONCERNS

Family

We reaffirm the traditional teaching of the Church on the family. We believe that marriage is a sacred union between a man and woman as ordained by the Creator (cf Gen 1 &2; Mat 19,1-6). When in the society, marriage and family life are not guaranteed their proper development in peace, that society is condemned to socio-political, cultural and moral instability.

We denounce any attempt by anyone or any institution to promote same sex marriage, abortion and contraceptives. Thus we call upon all, especially our government to reject the acceptance of this incipient culture of death as a pre- requisite for developmental and financial aid.

However, we are very much aware of the difficulties and challenges faced by families today. In line with the Holy Father’s recent Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Family (Amoris Laetitia), we recall that Jesus “never failed to show compassion and closeness to the frailty of individual like the Samaritan woman or the woman caught in adultery” (AL 38). Thus, we appeal to pastors to “reach out to everyone, to help each person, find his or her proper way of participating in the ecclesial community and thus to experience being touched by an ‘unmerited, unconditional and gratuitous mercy” (AL 297)

Religious Freedom

During our discussion on the Church’s mission with people of other faiths, we were concerned about the tendency to undermine and threaten religious freedom, tolerance and peaceful co-existence among our people. Acknowledging our commonalities and differences, we reaffirm our commitment to promote religious freedom and peaceful co-existence as enshrined in our constitution. We therefore call on all Liberians to join us in our efforts to promote peace and the respect for the fundamental rights and dignity of every person. We renew our commitment to collaborate with all those united to the church by faith, men and women of good will and continue our engagement with people of other religions.

Taxes

We recognize our duties as citizens and institutions to pay taxes in order to promote our national and developmental agenda. In doing this, we complement our government as dutiful citizens.

Unfortunately, in recent times the Church and ordinary citizens continue to experience undue hardships which undermine our capacity to assist our government in service to our people. Donated items to our institutions are taxed exorbitantly; procedures are cumbersome leading to unnecessary delays in clearing goods from the ports. Policies are inconsistent and cost unpredictable, thus leaving room for extortion. These conditions make it difficult, if not almost impossible, to perform our humanitarian duty to our people. We therefore call on our government to review its policies and procedures to ensure that our services to the Liberian people remain uninterrupted.

Political Parties

We are grateful to God for granting us peace as a nation. We have had two peaceful elections as we continue to reconcile and heal the wounds of the war. Multi-party democracy is gradually becoming entrenched with its attendant challenges. However, some equate multi-party democracy with the proliferation of parties. A culture of multi-party democracy will be enhanced not by the quantity but by the quality of political parties. We therefore caution our nation that the decision to establish political parties must be grounded in a clearly articulated vision and political will to improve the lives of our people. It must be founded on the desire to promote respect for the rule of law and respect for human rights. We must establish political parties on the basis of a sincere desire to serve rather than to be served (cf Mark 10,45), to sacrifice rather than have a sense of entitlement. The proliferation of parties is being dominated by personal, family and ethnic interests rather than by the collective national interest. This kind of tendency must be discouraged Conclusion As we continue to implore God’s forgiveness during this Extra-Ordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, we reiterate our thanks to all of you for your prayers and support. We entrust you and our nation Liberia to the maternal care of Mary our Mother. May she, Queen of Peace and Queen of Liberia continue to intercede and pray for us.

Signed:

Archbishop Lewis Zeigler Metropolitan Archbishop of Monrovia/ President of CABICOL

Most Rev. Andrew Karnley Bishop of Cape Palmas

Most Rev. Anthony Borwah Bishop of Gbarnga








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