“We’re not going to act arbitrarily in any way,” he assured.
The prelate told the UNITEL television station that “we know the issue of persecution. We know of our brothers who are deprived of liberty in different prisons in the country, for political reasons, of course, with other pretexts, pretexts such as terrorism, conspiracy, coup d’état ... and if this is going to extend to the Church, it wouldn’t be uncommon; we’ve seen it in Nicaragua, where a bishop has been arrested because he didn’t want to accept [exile].”
“We are already old priests; they have been threatening us, persecuting us. It’s already a long story,” he noted.
“The fact of being religious doesn’t prevent us from giving any statement. We do not enjoy, as is falsely understood, any privilege,” Galván said.
The former president of Bolivia, Carlos Mesa, criticized the proceedings by the authorities and pointed out on social media that “in its desire to hide the monumental fraud of 2019 as attested by the OAS, the EU, and international observers; and emulating the dictator Ortega, the MAS now seeks to persecute bishops who defend democracy and human rights. Political persecution in its crudest execution.”
Ortega has accused the Nicaraguan bishops of plotting a coup d’état during the 2018 anti-government demonstrations as well as in the bishops’ support for the protesters’ call for early elections (to possibly replace Ortega).
Former president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga warned that President Arce was “turning into another Ortega” in reference to the Nicaraguan dictator, by “attempting to crucify bishops, whose mediation the MAS requested in 2019.”
In addition, he believes that Pope Francis “must speak out about the persecution of the Church in Bolivia.”
In 2021, the Bolivian Bishops’ Conference itself presented a document to the pope and the Bolivian Attorney General’s Office that includes the participation of the CEB in the 2019 political crisis.
In that document, the bishops explained the negotiations that took place at the Catholic University before Áñez took office as president of Bolivia and they rejected any accusation linked to “an alleged coup d’état.”
In June 2022, with Morales’ ally Arce in power, Áñez, after 15 months in preventative detention, was sentenced in what is known as the “Coup II” case to 10 years in prison on the charge that she assumed the presidency illegally.
(Story continues below)
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The archbishop emeritus of Sucre, Jesús Juárez, told the Bolivian Fides News Agency that he doesn’t see the need for the religious authorities to be summoned to testify, since “the Church has already put all its good offices at disposal and also made a document, in which she makes clear everything that took place.” They shouldn’t have to “repeat everything like a broken record.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
The Catholic News Agency (CNA) Staff are a team of journalists dedicated to reporting news concerning the Catholic Church around the world. Our bureaus are located in Denver, Washington, and Rome. We have sister language agencies in Kenya, Germany, Peru, Brazil, and Italy. CNA is a service of EWTN News. You can contact us at news@catholicna.com with questions.