Evangelical bishops reject the Dominican Republic as an unsafe country

Santo Domingo.- The bishops representing the main evangelical councils in the Dominican Republic have rejected claims that the country is unsafe. They emphasized that, in fact, the country has consistently ranked as the third safest in Latin America for several years.

These bishops represent the Dominican Council of Evangelical Unity (Codue), the Dominican Evangelical Confraternity (Conedo), the Church of God of Prophecy, the Ministry of National Christianization, the Church Social Service, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Caribbean Relations of the Mormons, the Ark of Salvation Council, and the Church of God, among others.

During a meeting with the Minister of the Interior and Police, Jesús Vásquez Martínez, three deputy ministers, and the director of the Family Cabinet, Dío Astacio, who serves as the liaison between the evangelical churches and the Executive Power, the evangelical leaders expressed their support for the “Back to the Neighborhood” program. They also announced their intention to form a Neighborhood Support Pastoral Council to support this initiative, which is part of the Comprehensive Citizen Security Strategy “My Safe Country”.

The members of the council will be announced soon, along with the start date of their orientation and counseling work in the neighborhoods. The council aims to develop various activities to promote the values formation of children, adolescents, and young people.

Astacio also shared that in August, there will be five large camps involving 10,000 young people from different neighborhoods. These four-day events will include psychological and blood tests, which will provide participants with insights into the consequences of taking the wrong path and the potential outcomes if they choose to follow the path that God has called them to. Additionally, sports clinics will be held with prominent figures such as volleyball player Mireya Luis, basketball player Tito Horford, and others.