By Catholic News Service

LA PAZ, Bolivia (CNS) – Amid political tension and uncertainty, Bolivian bishops said they hoped Holy Week would bring a spirit of dialogue and reconciliation to the country.

Bishop Gonzalo del Castillo Crespo, head of Bolivia's military diocese, was forthright, saying in his Palm Sunday homily, "We are living through difficult times in our country."

He called for "understanding in both the East and the West" and an "encounter with brothers and sisters." He said that even "in the political sphere" there must be love for one's neighbor, "from the president to the last Bolivian."

Bolivia has been gripped by a political crisis since mid-2007, when it became clear that Bolivian President Evo Morales' governing party, which is backed strongly by indigenous people and peasant farmers in the Western highlands, and the opposition party, which is rooted in the Eastern lowlands, were not going to agree on the text of a new constitution.

The dispute underscored the deep racial, class and geographic divides that persist in the Andean nation.

Tempers flared when the governing party's delegates to the constitutional assembly approved the text at a session largely boycotted by the opposition. A nationwide referendum on the text, tentatively scheduled for May, is likely to be postponed.

Meanwhile, six of the country's nine departments, including those in the South and East, where most of Bolivia's largest farms and natural gas deposits are located, are pushing for a referendum on measures that would give them greater autonomy.

Dialogue between the leaders of those departments and the national government has been stalled for weeks. In their Palm Sunday homilies, several bishops called for it to be renewed.

Archbishop Jesus Perez Rodriguez of Sucre, where protests occurred during the constitutional assembly, said the church hoped that "in this time of Lent, the closed-minded attitudes of those who jeopardize peace in the country will be opened, so that dialogue between the government and the opposition will move ahead."

He urged Bolivians to work for peace, saying that "love for the country cannot be mere theory or philosophy. It must lead us to a serious commitment."

Cardinal Julio Terrazas Sandoval of Santa Cruz recalled that Pope Benedict XVI had expressed concern about the situation in Bolivia – both the political crisis and recent severe rains and flooding that have damaged crops and left tends of thousands homeless – when he received the country's new ambassador to the Vatican March 14.

"The reestablishment of peace must be based on justice, truth and freedom, as well as reciprocal cooperation, love and reconciliation," the cardinal said, adding that the church's mission is to "guide the faithful and all of society to reject racial hatred and vengeance, which divide instead of leading to respect for diversity."

Auxiliary Bishop Ricardo Centellas Guzman of Potosi, a southern highland city, also called for a "spirit of dialogue," and said negotiators must not "have cards up their sleeves, or presuppositions." Instead, he said, dialogue must be renewed "sincerely, frankly, with total openness, to enrich us all."

Bishop Antonio Reimann Panic of Nuflo de Chavez, called the faithful to discipleship.

"Today, when we see the fight for power, for prestige, we need disciples like Jesus ... who are not deceived by the darkness of lies and confusion, but who transform with the spirit of justice and truth," he said.