Santiago, Chile, Jul 22, 2010 / 19:58 pm
The Bishops’ Conference of Chile has sent a request to the country’s president asking for the pardon of some prisoners as Chile celebrates the bicentennial of its independence.
In a statement signed by Bishop Alejandro Goic, president of the conference, the bishops said their request was rooted in “a religious tradition, with biblical foundations that even precede Christianity, of invoking gestures of clemency on the occasion of great celebrations.”
The bishops said their appeal was not meant to contradict the rules of law and justice, but instead to suggest that clemency be considered in some cases. While they recognized the request has been met with differing reactions, the bishops stressed that the proposal “is not intended to reopen the serious wounds of the past nor to claim that they can be healed by the decree.”
“We are simply presenting to the country’s leaders the painful reality experienced by many persons deprived of freedom who have been convicted and have completed most of their sentences,” they said. “It is for them that we request, in this bicentennial, a gesture of clemency, as we have done in the past with other situations of great human suffering.”