Portraits of the disappeared and the National Guard in the temples: the Church of Mexico insists on a change in the security strategy

Bishop Salvador González is guarded by two National Guard agents.

He is handing out blessings to a line of parishioners at the Mexico City Cathedral after finishing a Sunday mass in which he has prayed for the dead and missing in recent years in Mexico.

The presence of the agents is shocking inside the temple full of families and tourists, given that the separation of the Church and the State was stipulated in the law since the 19th century.

Relatives of the victims of violence have not attended the mass, despite the fact that the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate (CEM) called on Mexicans to take their portraits to the temples this Sunday.

Elements of the National Guard stand guard during a mass in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City. Hector Guerrero

The message in the Catholic temples in Mexico has been the same as for a month: a change, by the Government, of the security strategy in the country.

The Catholic Church raised its voice after the murder of two Jesuit priests in the Sierra Tarahumara a month ago.

Since then, through his publications and also from the pulpits of his temples, he has distributed a message that the Government has refused to consider.

Under the sentence scheme, the Church has made an argument and has not taken its finger off the line.

González, auxiliary bishop of the Primate Archdiocese of Mexico, began his Sunday message by getting to the point: “We recognize that we feel challenged by the reality of the violence that is experienced throughout our Mexican Republic and we wish to act in an articulated manner together with with those who cry out for justice, reconciliation and peace”.

The religious has asked for prayers for the more than 100,000 disappeared in Mexico and also for those killed in the wave of violence that has lasted for more than a decade.

In addition, he has asked for prayers for those responsible for security in the Mexican state.

"Let us pray for those who govern our country: the president and governors so that they seek strategies and help us live in an authentic environment of peace," he added.

An element of the National Guard guards the blessing row in the metropolitan cathedral of Mexico City on July 24, 2022. Sonia Corona

The groups of disappeared have responded to the call of the Catholic Church, mainly in states that suffer the wave of violence most severely: Jalisco, Coahuila, Morelos, Tamaulipas and Veracruz.

The altars of some emblematic temples have been filled with portraits of the dead and disappeared.

In an image published on social networks, for example, the Archbishop of Xalapa, Jorge Patron Wong, is seen looking at dozens of photographs with the faces of the disappeared, or Ramón Castro, Bishop of Cuernavaca, giving blessings to signs that accompanied him in the celebration of Sunday mass.

The CEM has been reiterating its message for almost four weeks and exerting significant pressure as it is the largest Church in Mexico —77% of Mexicans consider themselves Catholic, according to INEGI figures from 2020. However, the mobilization of the Church has not sitting well in the National Palace.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has accused some religious of being "engulfed by the oligarchy" and has assured that his opponents seek to generate conflicts with the Catholic Church.

Asked if he would change his strategy in the face of religious requests, the president answered with a resounding 'no'.

The Cardinal of Jalisco Francisco Robles blesses those attending a mass in the Cathedral of Guadalajara.Roberto Antillon

subscribe here

to the

of EL PAÍS México and receive all the informative keys of the current affairs of this country