Attendees to the Walk for Peace, this Saturday in Cuernavaca.Margarito Pérez (Cuartoscuro)
The pulpits rebel against the security policy of the Mexican government.
The recent murder of two Jesuits in Chihuahua and the beating of a third priest in Michoacán have opened a gap between the Catholic Church and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who claims to have Jesus Christ as his main reference.
Religious leaders have requested, with more or less harsh words, a change in the authorities' strategy to face the wave of violence, and this Monday the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate (CEM) called to celebrate masses throughout the country for the murdered priests. and the rest of the victims.
"The indignation of our people is opening a door for peace for us," said the organization of bishops.
The Catholic Church does not want to let go of the loudspeaker.
For two weeks, when a local narco leader murdered two Jesuits in the Sierra Tarahumara, the ecclesiastical authorities have not stopped asking for a change in a security policy that they consider failed.
A few dozen parishioners and religious have marched this Tuesday along the Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City to demand an end to the violence.
In another sign of discontent, the Bishops' Conference has convened a "Day of Prayer for Peace."
The conclave of bishops proposes to celebrate masses on July 10 to honor the murdered religious and to celebrate prayers throughout this month "in significant places that represent all the people who have disappeared or suffered a violent death."
The document has been signed by the Archbishop of Monterrey and president of the CEM, Rogelio Cabrera;
the Bishop of Cuernavaca and General Secretary of the Conference, Ramón Castro;
the leader of the Jesuits in the country, Luis Gerardo Moro;
and the president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious (CIRM), Juana Ángeles Zárate.
"Our commitment is to social dialogue to build a path of justice and reconciliation that leads us to peace," reads the statement.
Over the weekend, the bishop of Cuernavaca spoke out in a more forceful way against "hugs, not bullets," a phrase that the president pronounced at the beginning of his six-year term and that has come to symbolize the government's security policy.
“It will never be lawful or legal for the civil authority to surrender its responsibility in terms of security and social peace.
For that they have the power and legitimate use of force;
'Hugs, not bullets' is demagoguery and to a certain extent complicity”, declared the bishop during the “Walk for Peace” in Cuernavaca, attended by hundreds of people.
In a similar line of discourse, the provincial of the Jesuits, Luis Gerardo Moro, affirmed in an interview with this newspaper that the president's famous phrase was already "trite".
“Any strategy can be reviewed and, if necessary, reformulated.
It cannot be something absolute, ”he assured.
The narco accused of murdering the priests Joaquín Mora and Javier Campos roamed freely in the Tarahumara mountains, despite the fact that there was an arrest warrant against him since 2018. The alleged murderer is still at large.
The wave of indignation that aroused the murder of the Jesuits had more material this weekend.
Mateo Calvillo, a priest from Michoacán, reported having been attacked by a hit man in the surroundings of Queréndaro, in the east of the state.
"It was a professional attack, they blocked my car, they beat me up," he said, in statements collected by various media.
The images released show Calvillo's face totally bloodied.
In the last decade, 30 priests have been murdered in Mexico, according to the Centro Católico Multimedial.
President López Obrador has not reacted well to criticism.
After the speeches of the Jesuits during the burial of the two murdered priests, the president accused some religious of being "pergollados" by the Mexican oligarchy.
He did not stay there.
After declaring that he identifies with Pope Francis and that he has Jesus Christ as "the most admired social leader," López Obrador said Monday that there was a "black hand" behind the recent wave of criticism.
"Our adversaries, as they have not been able to prevail, are now wanting us to enter into a controversy with the Churches", he pointed out.
“We cannot confront any Church”.
Faced with the request for a change in security strategy, the answer has been a resounding “no”.
The Government clings to a minimal reduction in the number of murders to defend that its policy is working.
However, despite the decline, so far in Administration there have already been more homicides than during the entire six-year term of Felipe Calderón (2006 - 2012), the promoter of the so-called "war on drugs", and is on the way to become the deadliest period in recent Mexican history.
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