On July 19, 2019, the Catholic Bishops of Puerto Rico joined civil society sectors who call for the resignation of the island’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló. The political crisis in the country flared up after the publication of the conversations between the president and members of the executive in which insults were expressed against public figures.
«There are two principles of democratic governance,» reads the Bishops’ statement sent to Fides News Agency, «which were torn apart by the Governor and his collaborators. First of all, the fundamental right to respect and protect human dignity were abused. Secondly, the governor took advantage of his position, which must be a sacred space of government before a people who elected him by democratic vote. You, Mr. Governor, bribed and attacked people and groups that participate in our democratic coexistence, and therefore cannot continue to exercise your role.»
The document was signed by bishop Rubén González of Ponce and President of the Puerto Rican Bishops’ Conference. The text was also signed by the Archbishop of San Juan, Roberto González Nieves, vice-president of the Puerto Rican Bishops’ Conference, by the Bishop of Mayagüez, Bishop Álvaro Corrada del Río, and by Mgr. Eusebio Ramos Morales, Bishop of the diocese of Caguas.
