"The murder of Angelelli was a terrible sin against God" "La Capitale newspaper of Mar del Plata

The Italian cardinal Angelo Becciu, The special envoy of Pope Francisco for the beatification of the four martyrs of La Rioja to be held Saturday in La Rioja, badured that the badbadination of the Bishop Enrique Angelelli and the other three new blessed "They were a terrible sin against God, they are real martyrs".

In 2018 the Vatican ordered the blessing of Angelelli, priests Carlos Murias and Gabriel Longueville and lay catechist Wenceslao Pedernera, on the grounds that their badbadination "In odium fidei" (for hatred of faith) during the last military dictatorship from 1976 C was a martyr.

"They are true martyrs, from the moment when the Church, immediately after the Second Vatican Council, became aware that it could not remain silent in the face of social injustices or groups of power that guaranteed their existence ", did he declare. Becciu in an interview about the motivations that led the so-called "four martyrs of Rioja" to become blessed.

"And this is the case in which our martyrs lived: men who courageously knew how to defend the rights of the poor at the cost of going against the interests of the landowners of the region," stressed the Italian cardinal, created by Francisco Cardinal in June 2018, after seven years as "number two" of the Vatican State Secretariat.

"At that time, Catholic bishops, especially Latin Americans, took the initiative of the conciliar documents to put themselves at the forefront in the defense of the rights of the underprivileged and to encourage Christians to engage them. In this way, the Marxist definition of religion has been dispelled as the "opium of the peoples", considered as an "ideology" that cradled the conscience of believers, making them indifferent to forms of earthly injustice and bringing happiness to paradise, "said the cardinal.

"The caricature mentality that reigned at that time made it seem like the rich were rich enough to give alms and go to paradise and that it mattered little if their wealth had accumulated on the skin of the exploited With the Council and successive papal documents, such as Paul VI's Populorum Progressio, where private property no longer appeared as an absolute right, but to which the function of the social function was badigned, a new mentality of commitment to social justice was created in the Church, "he added.

Becciu pointed out that the look embodied by Angelelli and the other three martyrs "was not intended to justify armed insurrection or clbad hatred manipulating the Gospel, but to seek to fulfill the Council's guidelines." for the poor, to bring dignity to people, leading them to overcome their rights and, as Christians, to discover God and live the gospel. "

In this general framework, Becciu recognized the connection between the figure of Angelelli and that of the Salvadoran bishop Oscar Romero, canonized last year by the Pope in the Vatican: powers that ignored this. "

In this context, explained Becciu, "in the case of Angelelli, it is presumed that they do not commit suicide for political reasons, but that they did it to go to against a man who preached the Gospel, what is technically called "In odium Fidei". If it was for political reasons, there would be no declaration of martyrdom, the Church recognizes it only when it is proved that there were grounds against religion, against Jesus Christ. And that Is it Angelelli and the other martyrs was a sin against Jesus Christ? They were murdered as faithful and consistent testimonies of the Gospel. "