There's an inspiring article today about Bishop Raul Vera of Mexico. This is one great guy.
Vera is not only a moral man, but a tremendous fighter. Cowed by no one,
he speaks out against the Mexican government's corruption and the drug
cartels.
Politicians are tied to organized crime, Bishop Raul Vera bellowed while inaugurating the church's Year of Faith. Lawmakers' attempts to curb money laundering are intentionally weak. New labor reforms are a way to enslave Mexican workers.
How, Vera asked, can Mexicans follow leaders "who are the ones who have let organized crime grow, who have let criminals do what they do unpunished, because there's no justice in this country!"
As you might imagine, the church isn't pleased with the range of Vera's remarks.
Vera is clearly unafraid to speak. That makes him an important voice of dissent in a country where the Roman Catholic Church often works hand-in-hand with the powerful, and where cynicism about politics is widespread and corrosive.
The icing on the cake is that he reaches out to gays despite the Vatican's virulent hatred toward all things gay:
Vera was invited to speak at a U.S.-based conference for a Catholic gay and lesbian organization. In 2010, he was awarded a human rights prize in Norway...And last year, the 67-year-old was summoned to the Vatican to explain a church outreach program to gay youth.
The
popey no likey. Vera sounds like an old-time, moral priest -- something
you rarely see in today's church of hatred and vindictiveness. The
article notes that Vera will not use bodyguards. He feels that since
others are unprotected, he also must move through the world without
protection.
Why
does the church make inconsequential nobodies saints on the basis of
fake miracles, when they could saint a guy like this? Oh, right! The
hatred. I forgot. Anyway, nice to know a man like Bishop Vera exists in
the church.
