Ruadhán Jones
Jose Francisco from Honduras leads his 8-year-old daughter, Zuabelin, by the hand Nov. 22, 2021, as they take part in a caravan near Villa Mapastepec, Mexico, and head to the U.S. border. Photo: CNS photo/Jose Luis Gonzalez, Reuters. The government in Honduras is “a disaster”, plagued by infighting and corruption, an Irish missionary bishop has warned.
The Church is a lonely voice of stability and justice in the Central American country, Bishop Michael Lenihan OFM told The Irish Catholic. The Limerick-born bishop was speaking ahead of taking up his role as archbishop of the Central American country’s industrial capital, San Pedro Sula, in March.
Bishop Lenihan’s new diocese is badly effected by gang violence, but the government doesn’t have the strength or cohesion to combat it, he warned.
“There’s a lot of corruption in the government,” Dr Lenihan said. The new government formed a few months ago under President Xiomara Castro has already received a great deal of criticism.
“They haven’t delivered on their promises. They have terrible problems within congress, for instance at the moment they’re trying to elect the supreme court. They can’t. They can’t decide or agree on the candidates. This has gone on for a week. It’s embarrassing,” the Irish Franciscan said.
The government is “incapable” and “a disaster”, he continued, saying Honduras “really is a third world country in questions of government”.
The Church is heavily involved in tackling social issues in Honduras, but faces difficulties of its own, Bishop Lenihan said.
The evangelical Churches have “grown disproportionately over the last number of years,” the bishop warned.
“It’s incredible, both the number of evangelical Churches and the number of people who have joined them.
“People who were good Catholics have all of a sudden left, entire families have joined the evangelicals.
“We have to study that, why is it happening and how can we address that problem as a new pastoral zone, support one another in our dioceses.”
In his own diocese of San Pedro Sula, the evangelical movement has made significant inroads. In 1999, the region was 99% Catholic; now it is just 57%.
Following his appointment by Pope Francis in January of this year, Bishop Lenihan will take up his archbishopric in ceremony in March.