The Archbishop of Arequipa, Monsignor Javier Del Río Alba, said that the family should be the main priority for the incoming government of Keiko Fujimori. Fujimori was proclaimed president of the Republic by the National Elections Board on Friday, July 3.In an article titled “Priority for the New Government” sent to ACI Prensa on Saturday, July 4, the prelate noted that while many are pointing to urgent issues the Fujimori administration must address — health, education, insecurity, among others — few are speaking about strengthening the family.“It has always been said that the family is the basic cell of society. It is logical, then, that if the family enters into crisis, so does society, because it lacks that foundation to sustain it,” Bishop Del Río stated.
Challenges for families in PeruThe archbishop lamented that “for some time now, certain ideologies have been introduced into our country that directly threaten and destroy the family, with tragic consequences for spouses and especially for children, which necessarily affects the entire society.”He listed what he called “poisoned fruits of these ideologies,” including the “right to remarry,” in which “one of the spouses abandons the rest of the family; the normalization of sexual relations outside of marriage along with the use of contraceptives and the so-called ‘right to abortion’ which is nothing other than murdering a defenseless child in its mother’s womb.”
He also denounced “attempts to equate marriage with other types of unions, including those between people of the same sex; the mentality that the elderly and sick are a burden that must be eliminated through euthanasia or assisted suicide; the lack of attention from parents to the education of their children,” among others.The importance of familyBishop Del Río emphasized that the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “the family is an institution created by God from the very moment he created man and placed in man and woman the call to become one flesh and reproduce, which entails educating children and transmitting the faith to them.”“Children need to receive human and Christian values from their parents and grandparents, to grow up in a home where they experience and practice love, mutual help, and the pursuit of the common good,” he said. “United families can forge a good future for society.
And to maintain family unity, there is nothing better than putting God at the center,” he added. In mid-June, Peru’s Congress approved a law declaring June as the Month of Life and Family throughout the country, giving the incoming Fujimori government a legal framework for related initiatives.Keiko Fujimori, president-elect of PeruOn Friday, July 3, the National Elections Board proclaimed Keiko Fujimori as president of Peru, making her the first woman to be democratically elected to lead the South American country.
In November, Peru will receive a visit from Pope Leo XIV, who also holds Peruvian nationality.According to ONPE, Fujimori obtained 50.135% of the votes, while Roberto Sánchez of Juntos por el Perú received 49.865%, a difference of only 49,641 votes.Speaking from the Fuerza Popular party headquarters, now serving as the office of the president-elect, Fujimori said, “we are not going to wait a minute longer, because we are here to solve the country’s problems and start making decisions.”
“I receive with deep gratitude the trust that millions of Peruvians have placed in me,” she wrote on social media, adding that “each day of this transition process is an opportunity to listen, dialogue and arrive prepared for the start of the new government.”Fujimori introduced members of her transition team — second vice president-elect Miguel Torres Morales and Marco Vinelli — ahead of her administration, which begins on July 28 when she takes office.