Those responsible for the removal of the chapel “have to give an account to God,” declares the bishop of Fontibón.
Newsroom (31/08/2022 9:50 PM, Gaudium Press) Controversy has been growing over the removal of the chapel that the Catholic Church administered at the Eldorado Airport in Bogota, with the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.
After the airport management company, OPAIN, claimed in a statement that everything was done with the permission of the Archbishopric of Bogotá, a video was released by the Bishop of Fontibón, Msgr. Juan Vicente Córdoba, giving his version of what happened.
“Regarding the chapel at the Eldorado airport terminal that was closed, there are two agents: The secretary of government of the Bogotá City Hall, who asked and notified OPAIN; second, that the Catholic Church be removed from there and shared with all religions. We see that OPAIN complied with that notification and notified us that we had to leave,” says Msgr. Juan Vicente Cordoba in his statement.
“The OPAIN could have let us stay. OPAIN is a private institution, meaning that it manages the airport, and has the autonomy to say yes or no. It was OPAIN that ended up removing the Catholic Church,” he says.
“We left because they said to leave. They didn’t want to dialogue. We had a meeting that was just to notify us, and they kept notifying us to leave, there was no dialogue. The contract said until 2037. But since they are autonomous they can suspend it, but they could have let us stay. It was OPAIN that got us out. It was the secretary of government of the City Hall who asked to get us out, both have to do with the Catholic Church leaving the airport, but OPAIN and its board could have let us stay.
“We denounce this, because they don’t allow us to evangelize and attend to people who want to approach the peace of God in an airport and they can’t do it, because some people say no. Those who said no have to give an account to God.”
Government secretary denies interference
Gaudium Press tried to contact Bogota’s Secretary of Government, which was not possible. The secretary’s communications office forwarded the tweet posted on August 27 on the secretary’s account @felipeangell, in which he states that “it was @BOG_ELDORADO and the OPAIN board that made the decision. In Bogota, we defend and support religious freedom. Our government does not attack churches, but supports them with the public policy of religious freedom so that the citizens of Bogota can profess their faith.”
For her part, Catholic Senator María del Rosario Guerra said on her Twitter account that “Mayor @ClaudiaLopez persecutes the Catholic Church and its faithful and restricts religious freedom with her demand that @BOG_ELDORADO remove the Catholic chapel that has been at Eldorado Airport for many years. What a bad precedent. @episcopadocol.” The mayor responded to this tweet, repeating that the decision was autonomous of the airport administration.
Several groups have announced demonstrations at the airport against the measure and calling for the reinstallation of the chapel.
Compiled by Teresa Joseph
