Cardinal Américo Aguiar said this Thursday, taking office as Bishop of Setúbal, that “problems cannot be solved against anyone”, but declared that “the truth must never be put aside or hidden because of political forces.”
“The truth should never be delayed, limited or hidden due to political forces, friendships or various circumstances. [das pessoas] with whom we get along every day,” Américo Aguiar said in his first address to reporters as Bishop of Setúbal.
“Truth and, above all, the dignity of the human person, subsidiarity, solidarity, the common good are beacons, they are important pillars of the work that I will carry out with the Diocese of Setúbal. I’m just more the one that, perhaps because of my visibility and responsibility, I have to echo the cries and voices of those who feel most crushed and most forgotten in the problems we face on a daily basis,” he added.
Cardinal Americo Aguiar spoke at the canonical inauguration ceremony of the Bishop of Setúbal, held this Thursday in the Church of Santa Maria da Graça, Se de Setúbal, on a day that also marks the 48th anniversary of the episcopal consecration of Manuel Martins as the first bishop Setubala. Setúbal (1975/1998), followed by Gilberto Canavarro dos Reis (1998–2015) and José Ornelas (2015/2022).
In his first public appearance, Américo Aguiar expressed the idea that he would not spare words to denounce injustice and defend the most disadvantaged people in the Setúbal peninsula, a region that he said had been damaged by the “bad area of Lisbon.”
“What is certain is that, since Setúbal has been integrated into the economic and financial criteria of the capital, it has suffered in recent decades due to lack of access to public funds. There are millions and millions of them [de euros] who did not reach the Setúbal Peninsula because of this “bad neighborhood.”
“And now it has been decided that from 2027 the NUT (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistical Purposes) will be allocated. And Setubal will have the opportunity to breathe and benefit from community funds. Only those who don’t want to see it. “We look at the country, and what happened before and after public funds is decisive. And the Setubal peninsula really suffered from inclusion in the Lisbon criteria,” he emphasized.
Américo Aguiar said he was also concerned that there were more “fact seekers” than dialogue and consultation in the country’s decision-making centers.
“There is always a lot of noise around all issues. Now that we know the lives of teachers, the lives of doctors, the lives of police officers, the lives of men and women in the Armed Forces, the lives of domestic workers, the lives of any employee, it really hurts me when people run out of month and their salary does not allow them to fulfill their obligations.” , – he said.
“And that’s the first level of seriousness and urgency that we as a society have to respond to, because if my friends earn 800 or 900 euros for ten, 20, 30, 40 years, it’s not going to go away. it is impossible to dream, it is impossible to build a family, it is impossible to build a modern Portugal and a Portugal with a future for everyone,” added Americo Aguiar, naming some of the main problems that affect the Portuguese, such as: housing, education and health.
For the new Bishop of Setubal, so many problems require the commitment of the entire Portuguese society, which he cannot lose “due to lack of attendance.”
“We complain, we go to cafes, we go on social networks, but election day comes and half of the Portuguese remain at home on the sofa. Well, it won’t work like that, it won’t work like that,” warned the new bishop of Setúbal.
The inauguration ceremony of the new Bishop of Setúbal was attended, among other persons, by Patriarch D. Rui Valerio of Lisbon and Patriarch Emeritus Cardinal D. Manuel Clemente, ambassadors and several deputy mayors of the region and D. Duarte Pio. de Braganza.
After reading the papal bull appointing Cardinal D. Américo Aguiar IV as Bishop of Setúbal and signing the act of inauguration, the new bishop received a commemorative tile offered by a family with a son blessed by Pope Francis at the door of the Apostolic Nunciature during WYD in Lisbon.
In the first 48 hours of his episcopal ministry in the Diocese of Sadina, the new Bishop of Setubal has already planned several visits to civil society institutions related to security, health, social assistance, education and sports.
Courtesy visits are scheduled for Friday at the territorial command of the National Republican Guard (GNR) of Setubal, the district command of the Public Security Police (PSP), the San Bernardo Hospital, the District Social Welfare Center, the Port Authority of Setubal, the Polytechnic Institute of Setubal. and football club Vitoria.
Still on Friday, at 21:15, Américo Aguiar will hold his first meeting with the youth of the diocese at the “Prayer Vigil for Listening, Dialogue and Peace”, organized by the Youth Department of the Church of Nossa Senhora de Fátima in Torre da Marinha, in the municipality Seishal.
On Saturday, the new Bishop of Setubal visits the Setubal Volunteer Firefighters, the Diocesan Commission for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable People and the House of Nossa Alegría, which is under the responsibility of the Missionaries of Charity.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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