.- Bishop Jorge Lozano of the Argentinean Bishops’ Committee on Social Ministry said last week that the country must acknowledge the real faces of poverty and not just focus on cold statistics, because “these faces are awaiting an answer.”
“When we say, ‘poverty is a huge issue,’ we must be careful not to look at it only on paper, as if a graphic or a statistic tells the entire story. Cold, hunger, loneliness, ‘nobody-ism,’ and suffering are not adequately expressed in percentages,” the bishop said.
The prelate then lamented the absurdity that eight children die each day in Argentina due to malnutrition and urged that young people not be forgotten, especially as the country approaches its bicentennial. “There are hundreds of thousands, more than 500,000 young people who spend their time in the squares and street corners of our neighborhoods,” he said.
Bishop Lozano called for the period of 2010-2016 to be a time for eliminating poverty and promoting comprehensive development for all.
