:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/GUUGOG2RHVAFTL37PKABBGNVY4.jpg "\"His words were not happy\": Dominican friars on a priest who gave a sermon against the Paisa culture 1")
Not for the controversy over the sermon delivered by Fray Fernando Piña, guardian of the painting of the Virgen del Rosario de Chiquinquirá, in the homonymous municipality of the department of Boyacá, where He harshly criticized the paisa culture which according to him has leaders for good and for evil, tirade which aired on Monday, February 27, after the video where he was seen giving the signal went viral.
Controversial sermon against the paisas delivered by a Boyacá priest: “They make sin look good”
Carlos Mario Alzate, rector of the Basilica of Chiquinquirá, apologized to the people of Antioquia on behalf of the Catholic Church. He said the priest was sorry for his comments.
Given the controversy it generated, which of course, this aroused deep indignation among people who recognize themselves as paisas, through the Twitter account of the Boyacá Shrine they issued a statement in which the Dominican friars, the congregation of the aforementioned religious, described them as unhappy the words of the priest
“His words were not happy, especially in the context of the Holy Mass and in front of an audience of faithful from many parts of the country. With just and indisputable reason, the group of pilgrims from Antioquia felt offended and expressed it in the basilica and later on social networks.” they stated in the letter.
However, they recalled that the context in which Piña made her derogatory remark Expressions against the paisas were given from the homily of the first Sunday of Lent where the journey of Jesus of Nazareth through the desert was recalled and the temptations to which he was exposed, according to the biblical record.
“Among the examples he used (…) he referred to the Paisa culture, worthy of recognition and admiration, but at the same time affected by vices and sins which, on the other hand, are common in our societies today”they indicated.
They also assured that after this impasse, the priest felt quite affected since he did not want to provoke a controversy like the one he had started, but that he sought to warn the faithful of the dangers of sin.
“Father Fernando feels distressed by the damage he could have caused, with no other intention than to warn of the risks that await the believer and is preparing to apologize to the pilgrims hurt by his words”, saw again.
They eventually claimed that the incident also leads to a reflection on how the means used in this Catholic community are used to get your messages across.
The cleric’s statement was labeled xenophobic and discriminatory, because among other accusations he claimed that people in this region of the country are responsible for distributing drugs in Colombia.
“Where is there a university of prostitution? In Medellín. More than 1,000 students to undress. A paisa mounted it. The paisa can sell sin as property (…) Who distributes micro-trafficking in Colombia? Paisas, because they make sin look good. The greatest spiritual leaders and the best Catholics are also there. I take my hat off to them too,” he said in one part of his sermon.
The priest’s comments caused annoyance among the attendees. One of them, while trying to speak to express his disagreement, received on his body the holy water that the priest threw at him. “We are leaving heartbroken. We leave humbled, broken for from his mouth came only grievance for the paisas. The women are prostitutes and the men are drug dealers. Do you think it’s good to highlight the bad sides of Medellín?” he assured.
“Respect, you don’t look like a father, we just Medellin 70 pilgrims here to bring us a good image, a blessing so that you can no longer offend the paisas,” said another of the participants in the Eucharistic celebration on Sunday, February 26 at the National Marian Shrine of Chiquinquirá.