Bishops in violence-wracked Mexico prioritize quest for peace

As Mexico continues to reel under violence of all types, Catholic bishops are making it a priority to call for peace and preach that nothing can justify violence and that nobody has the right to take another's life.

“We ask everyone once again to lay down their arms and put an end to all forms of violence, so that we can all be peacemakers. Nobody has the right to make an attempt on his brother's life and there is nothing to justify such violence," read a May 20 statement from the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM).

The statement was signed by conference president Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera Lopez of Monterrey; the vice president, Archbishop Gustavo Rodriguez Vega of Yucatan, and by the secretary general Bishop Monsignor Ramon Castro Castro of Cuernavaca.  

The bishops said they are saddened by the murder of Father José Guadalupe Rivas from the Archdiocese of Tijuana and of another unidentified person who was with him. The two were reported missing on May 15. 

Father Rivas served as pastor of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish in Tecate, was director of the migrant shelter and involved with the Catholic charismatic renewal movement.

"All the limits of violence and human respect are overcome when a man of God is attacked and another is attacked within the house of the Lord, who deserves all our respect,” the bishops said.

Priests in Mexico have suffered much violence just as the population at large. At least Mexican five priests have been killed since December 2018, according to the Catholic Multimedia Center in Mexico City. 

The bishops also in their statement cited the murder of a three-year-old boy inside the Church of Ntra. Sra. De Guadalupe in Fresnillo Zacatecas, where gunmen entered chasing a man, who was wounded. 

They urged Catholics in the country to pray "so that our authorities find the best paths of peace and security that we all need and desire ... so that criminals repent and change their lives ... so that we all become peacemakers". 

Upsurge in Mexico’s violence is the result of multi-level failure 

Violence in the country has not spared any section of society.

According to the Mexican government and other sources, at least 50 journalists and 68 human rights defenders have been murdered in the country over the past three years. 

In the same period, 19,445 children and adolescents, aged up to 17 years, have been reported as missing. Of these, 5,102 have not been found, dead or alive. 

Overall there were more than 100,000 disappeared persons, the numbers rivalling those from Syria.

Rights groups have been calling for "immediate" action from the government to locate the disappeared.  

According to the country's National Registry of Missing Persons, the whereabouts of 100,012 people are unknown, 75% of whom are men.

In April, the UN Committee against Enforced Disappearances warned that Mexico was facing an "alarming upward trend" in missing people cases.

Organized crime groups were mainly responsible for these disappearances, the UN body said, with "varying degrees of acquiescence or omission" on the part of authorities.

Gender violence too is on the rise. According to official data, 10 women are killed in Mexico every day, and homicide is the leading cause of death for Mexican women between the ages of 15 and 24. 

Last year, 78.8% of women said they felt unsafe in their home states, and 45.6% felt unsafe in their own neighborhoods. 

Also, between 2015 and 2021, femicides—the intentional killing of women because of their gender—increased 137%, according to official figures.

Then there is also drug trafficking related violence. Mexico registered over 340,000 deaths -- mostly attributed to organized crime groups -- since 2006, when a major anti-drug military offensive was launched. 

In 2018, the number of drug-related homicides in Mexico rose to 33,341, a 15 percent increase from the previous year. 

Media reported that Mexican cartels killed at least 130 candidates and politicians in the lead-up to Mexico’s 2018 presidential elections.

“The upsurge in Mexico’s violence is the result of a multi-level, uncoordinated judicial system that has been incapable of controlling criminal networks that are increasingly fractured and geographically dispersed," according to the Mexico Institute that promotes original research, public discussion, and proposes policy options.

“Today’s crisis is the result of changes in the modus operandi of criminals that are not mirrored by changes in Mexico’s judicial and police institutions,” it said. 

The EU Parliament recently also  passed a resolution to encourage the Mexican government to do more about the violence.