CUERNAVACA, Mexico, MAY 4, 2010 (Zenit.org).- When Héctor Mojica Romero decided to respond to false and misleading press reports with a Facebook group in support of priests, he never anticipated the response.
The group, at 36,642 members as this article is being edited — up from 27,128 when it was prepared — is growing by thousands of members a day.
«Yo tengo un amigo sacerdote que es genial aunque los medios digan que no» (I have a priest friend who is just fantastic, even if the media says otherwise) is the name of the group.
Mojica, 27, created the group one day after watching a TV report that criticized priests because of the cases of sexual abuse. He said that reflecting on his own experience, he knew priests are not as they were presented. He created the Facebook group anticipating that it would be for his friends in Mexico.
Now, the explanatory text introducing the group is in 10 languages besides Spanish. In English, it explains: «Courage priests!!! We need you. We trust you. We entrust our children to you. There is a campaign going on, pretending to make some exceptional incidents, some of which happened a long time ago, appear as normal, thus manipulating data and facts.
«The truth always prevails. This is why we wish to encourage you and to renew our trust in you and in our pastor Benedict XVI.»
Undeceivable
Mojica admits he’s impressed by the response, which came almost immediately from the Caribbean, South and North America, Asia and Europe.
The majority of supporters are young. «If there is something about us young people it is that we are not easily deceived,» Mojica told CNN in Spanish. «And in this we are aware of the truth; that is why the group has had such success.»
He said he’s convinced the idea to create this space was a divine inspiration, as he had never thought of creating a group on Facebook or on any social network.
«In truth God takes over and leaves you with your mouth gaping, or plays lovely jokes such as these, but everything is planned and there are no coincidences,» he reflected.
Faithful friends
Participants are invited to give the testimony of a priest friend, or a priest they know, who has been important in their lives and who is an example of what a true priestly vocation is.
Those who join the group «post their photographs and beautiful testimonies of priests who have given their lives,» Mojica told Gaudium Press. «They tell us about these ‘fantastic friends’ and how they been helped by them — these silent anonymous heroes, great missionaries, devoted celebrants and faithful friends of God, even in the most difficult battles.»
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On the Net:
Facebook group: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=404166879781&ref=nf
