Magallanes Church commemorates 50 years of the Vicaría de la Solidaridad

The Church of Magallanes recently held its annual Social Week, centered around the feast of Saint Alberto Hurtado. A primary focus of this year's event was the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Vicaría de la Solidaridad of the Archbishopric of Santiago and its human rights work in Magallanes through the Bishopric of Punta Arenas' Department of Human Rights Pastoral.

A public discussion was held featuring Paulina Echeverría, former head of the local Human Rights Pastoral Department, political prisoner Baldovino Gómez, and sociologist Cristián Figueroa, Regional Director of the National Institute of Human Rights. The event included a performance of the Human Rights Cantata.

Bishop Óscar Blanco concluded the discussion by stating that the defense of human rights is not a marginal activity for the Church, but a concrete expression of the Gospel that calls for serving the vulnerable and marginalized. The Vicaría de la Solidaridad was originally established by Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez as a response to human rights violations.