As the electoral process unfolds, the bishops of Guatemala, as shepherds of God’s people and members of Guatemalan society, insist on their support for the will of the people expressed in the June 25 elections
Vatican News
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who take darkness for light and light for darkness, who take bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)
Faced with the complex evolution of the electoral process on Wednesday afternoon, July 12, the bishops of Guatemala, as shepherds of God’s people and members of Guatemalan society, insist on the support already expressed for the popular will expressed in the ballot boxing on June 25.
After affirming that “the people of Guatemala have responded with their voice and in anticipation of bringing the electoral calendar to a successful conclusion,” the prelates write:
“We demand that the result of the elections for President and Vice-President of the Republic be respected and that the second ballot be held on August 20 with the two most elected couples, as officially established by the Supreme Electoral Court in Resolution 1328-2023.”
Furthermore, the Guatemalan bishops reaffirm that the common good is “the supreme end for which the state is organized, in accordance with Article 1 of the Constitution of the Republic”. However, they write that “this goal is achieved not only through compliance with the legal system, but also through an ethical and moral sense on the part of all, but especially those who hold authority, whether by election or appointment.”
General elections were held in Guatemala on June 25th. In light of the Constitutional Court’s provisional suspension of the results, the conference …
“Otherwise,” it goes on to say, “the immoral use of the rule of law becomes an instrument with which the state destroys itself.”
For this reason, they call on the population “to maintain coexistence and institutionality, to remain orderly in their political statements and to avoid any form of violence.”