Archbishop of Bogotá asks governments of Latin America to give shelter to the poor

Bogotá, Feb 19 (EFE) .- The Archbishop of Bogotá and Primate of Colombia, Luis José Rueda Aparicio, called on the governments of Latin America on Friday to provide shelter, work and land for the poor.
This was expressed during the inauguration of the sculpture “Jesus, street dweller”, in Monserrate, Bogotá’s tutelary hill where the symbolic temple of the archdiocese of the Colombian capital is located.
Monsignor Rueda recalled that when Pope Francis visited Bolivia, he said that Latin America and the poor peoples of Africa and Asia “lack three basic ‘te’s’ for dignity: shelter, work and land, to be able to live.”
The high hierarch of the Catholic Church assured that in these aspects “there is the issue of migrants, the homeless, and so many people in the world who die of hunger annually, many more than those left by covid-19” .
“Jesus, street dweller” is a life-size sculpture made of bronze. It was donated by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz and depicts a homeless man sleeping on a bench.
The work is a statue that represents a man on a bench, with his face and hands hidden under a blanket. However, the open wounds on his feet reveal that it is Jesus.
Similar works by this sculptor are in churches in Dublin, Rome, Toronto, Madrid, Singapore, Washington, Santo Domingo and Capernaum, among others.
Monsignor Rueda added that at this time when the world is affected by the coronavirus pandemic, it is time to move from a “speech that demands an action that he proposes, heals and that he shares with the most suffered on the road of life.”
The event was attended by a group of street dwellers recovering in different centers and Fray Gabriel Gutiérrez, a Franciscan friar, director of the Callejeros de la Misericordia Foundation, which works with these communities in the center of Bogotá.
The inauguration was also attended by the rector of the Monserrate sanctuary, Father Jesús Pinzón, the auxiliary bishops Pedro Salamanca and Luis Manuel Alí; the Vicar for the Social Dimension of Evangelization, Monsignor Jaime Mancera, and the secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Colombia, Monsignor Giovanni Bicchierri.

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