Today's news, like those of weeks ago, speak only of the 58 dead, protests and demonstrations in different areas of Lima and Peru's departments. One only has to scroll through the media to be astonished and hopeless, noting the new demonstrations, the roadblocks, the investigations into the deaths of some people... It seems that a solution never comes.
A few days ago, the Apostolic Nuncio to Peru, Archbishop Paolo Rocco Gualtieri, during his greeting to President Dina Boluarte on the occasion of the New Year 2023, clearly and precisely expressed. "When a part of society claims to enjoy the world as if the poor did not exist, there are consequences. Ignoring the existence and rights of others sooner or later causes some form of unexpected violence, as we are seeing these days."
Despite the country's economic growth, the poor remain poor, and it is enough to note that in 2022 "poverty in Peru rose to 30 percent." These are not just figures and statistics, but millions of people in poverty. Here, then, is the silent cry of the Nuncio: "Ignoring the existence and rights of others causes some form of violence." And now Peruvians are mourning the deaths of 58 people. For his part, during a Sunday Mass to remember the Peruvians who died in the protests, Archbishop Carlos Castillo of Lima stated categorically, "Our dead are not strangers to us."
The Salesians are following the situation closely and continue to pray for the situation in Peru in all Salesian works. And in the midst of this crisis, the most forgotten are the adolescents and young people.
But not so for the Salesians, who have works in various parts of Peru and promote educational vacations with hundreds and hundreds of young people. "Here we are happy," said a young man from Breña Parish in Lima, "because we have spaces to be together, play, pray and be friends.
Amid the social and political chaos, the Don Bosco celebration did not go unnoticed. It was not possible to hold many activities or processions in the cities because of the social situation, but the world of youth always remains close to Don Bosco because he continues to always be Father and Teacher of youth."
https://www.infoans.org/en/component/k2/item/17164-peru-despite-social-crisis-death-and-protests-young-people-celebrate-the-feast-of-don-bosco#sigProId8511c1d923
