Numerous politicians and intellectuals have spoken against the proposal for the statue of Mary. However, in his interview Cardinal Sturla said that in Uruguay "there are Catholic schools, pastoral initiatives and two Catholic Universities. The life of the Church is vibrant, the statue is important, but it is not the thing that most concerns us. I just thought that Uruguay had reached a positive secularism and that the presence of Our Lady in the street was natural."
The Archbishop of Montevideo also added: "They talk about invasion of public space or they say that the strategy of the Church to proselytize ... Through social communication we have different ways to get to the people and we do not depend on a statue in the 'rambla' to make our presence better felt."
In a later statement, the Archbishop apologized if the dispute had got out of hand or if some people may have felt excluded, saying that he had no intention of attacking anyone.
However, he explained that the request to erect the statue was an initiative of a group of lay Catholics, and went on to say that "some of the disputes that arise around our secularism, when it comes to the Catholic Church, seem to be a reflection of the combative secularism that was in our country a hundred years ago."
He also wrote: "Erecting a statue of Our Lady does not mean claiming possession of any public space, just as the monuments of people from different parties, currents of thought, traditions ... that already exist do not mean that the communities belonging to this party or this tradition are appropriating those places."
The question of the statue, then, "is an expression of freedom and therefore of true secularism".
On April 14, the Departmental Board of Montevideo will be called to decide on the request to erect the monument.
The press release is available on the website of the Archdiocese of Montevideo.
