Yesterday, 21 January, was the day that Dominican Catholics (who make up the vast majority of the population) celebrate “El Dia de la Virgen de la Altagracia”, traditionally marked by a pilgrimage to the eastern city of Higuey, where there is a Basilica in the honor of the Virgin Mary. The statements of the two most important Church figures expressed their undisguised concern for the current political and economic crises in the Dominican Republic. Yesterday’s service at Higuey was led by Papal Nuncio Timothy Broglio, who called for reconciliation between the different sectors of Dominican society. President Hipolito Mejia was one of the worshippers at the service, in which the Vatican’s envoy said that it was up to all Dominicans, “from the President to the most humble and simple person”, to act against the problems the country was suffering, and not just complain about them. “Dominicans must not sit back and wait for change to happen, nor expect big miracles or that the neighbor will take the initiative,” said Broglio, who also called for harmony and unity within the family. In his homily, the nuncio asked that the Virgin guide “all politicians, legislators and judicial officials down the path of service, generosity, honesty and authentic justice,” and supplicated that she grant strength to the forces of law and order for the application of improved human rights principles. As well as President Mejia, the service was attended by several members of his family and key government officials such as government legal advisor Guido Gomez Mazara and Interior & Police Minister Pedro Franco Badia.