MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Catholic Church calls Chilean wealth distribution “scandalous”

Santiago's archbishop Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz called on Chilean authorities to work for “fairness, solidarity and the needy”, describing the national wealth distribution as “scandalous”.

Cardinal Errazuriz strong homily was addressed to the representatives of the three branches of the Chilean government, headed by President Ricardo Lagos, present at the thank giving Te Deum ceremony in Santiago's cathedral to commemorate Chile's independence day.

The Chilean Catholic Church highest official specifically addressed the ministers of Interior, Finance and Education inviting them to work together for a "bicentenary of fairness, social justice and solidarity for the Chilean people" and to implement policies which improve access to goods and services for all Chileans, highlighting that helping the poor and most needy must be the target of government officials.

"If you put your souls into the challenges and perfect your theories and programs you will be able to reduce the income gap among Chileans", emphasized the Cardinal.

He also called on universities and think tanks to generate mechanisms to confront delinquency and crime, "which has several origins" and won't be solved with repression.

Further on Monsignor asked for the canonization of Father Alberto Hurtado, considered a saint by poor Chileans, which will enable Chile to become more "fraternal, joyful and lessen the gap between social classes".

Present at the Te Deum were also leaders of all Christian churches in Chile and three of the four candidates for next December's presidential election.