The event took place a few days after the Bogota Association of Atheists prevented, through the courts, the purchase of 720 Bibles by the General Chaplaincy of the National Police.
Newsroom (August 15, 2021, 15:00 PM, Gaudium Press) The Bogota Association of Atheists prevented the National Police of Colombia from purchasing Bibles. So, the country’s Military Episcopate donated 500 copies of the Holy Scriptures to the military institution, emphasizing that religious freedom means respecting beliefs.
Acts 5:28-29
“We had strictly forbidden you to teach anything about this man. And what have you done? You have filled the whole country with such teachings. Peter and the others replied, “We must obey God rather than men.”
– Military Bishopric of Colombia – Tweeter message (@ObisCastrense) August 11, 2021
The Scriptures are a source of spirituality
The Castrense Bishop of Colombia, Bishop Víctor Manuel Ochoa Cadavid, stressed that the Word of God “is a source of life. It is the foundation of grand and higher human ethical values that inspire the lives of many men and women in the world. The Word of God inspires the Faith of Catholics, of those who are part of the Christian denominations; and to a great extent, the Scriptures encourage the life of the children of the people of Israel.”
According to the prelate, the Scriptures are a source of spirituality that “shows us the way and indicates the high values for our Armed Forces.” Furthermore, for the National Police, the Word of God “is encouraging and is part of its great institutional values, which translates to a grand slogan that inspires us: God and Homeland.”
The Bogotá Atheists Association filed a lawsuit
The event comes a few days after the lawyer for the Bogota Association of Atheists, Nicolás Calderón Grisales, prevented, through judicial means, the purchase of 720 Bibles. The General Chaplaincy of the National Police had plans to distribute them among the 64 chapels under its direction.
In the document submitted to the court, Calderon states that the Bible is a Christian book. Therefore its purchase by the State implies a violation of the duty of neutrality towards all religions”. And it offends him “because he is an atheist and public resources are being used to buy religious books.”
The National Police responded to the lawyer by pointing out that “the State is not atheist, agnostic or indifferent to the religious feelings of Colombians and that Colombia is a secular and pluralistic state, founded on religious freedom and equality.” (EPC)
Compiled by Ena Alfaro