Hounded by drug cartels, Mexican bishops reiterate calls for peace

Catholic bishops in Mexico have urged the government to rein in the Latin American country’s violent drug cartels, one of them even going so far as to suggest that the state develop a "social pact" that would integrate the cartels.

Bishop Sigifredo Noriega of Zacatecas, in the central part of the country, told the daily paper Milenio this past Tuesday that he called on the government to immediately address the extreme deterioration of the country's security situation.

Catholic clergy have been routinely targeted by Mexico’s notorious drug cartels. 

Two Jesuit priests were killed in the north of the country on June 20 while trying to defend a tour guide who was seeking refuge inside a church.

Since then, the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM) has been making numerous calls and writing open letters to the government in an attempt to find a compromise and put an end to the violence in one of the most dangerous countries in the world, plagued by the "drug war" waged by the cartels.

"Enough of this hatred!"

In a message for peace published on June 23, the secretary general of the conference, Bishop Ramón Castro Castro of Cuernavaca, warned of the violence that has "crept into our communities", "disfiguring people and destroying the culture of peace that makes us brothers and sisters".

"It is the responsibility of those who govern to ensure justice and promote peace and harmony in social coexistence… We beg them: enough of this evil and hatred!" he pleaded in a video put on social media.

"We, the bishops, want to express in the same manner all of our closeness and the deep pain that we carry in our hearts for so much innocent blood spilled," Bishop Castro said.

The Mexican bishops’ conference issued an official statement that same day to reaffirm their members’ commitment to building peace as part of their pastoral project.

The bishops also reiterated their "appeal to the federal government and the different levels of authority" to "review their security strategies".

Pact with the entire society

Faced with this critical situation, Bishop Noriega went even further and proposed creating a pact, "not just with the people who do evil", but "with the entire society, including the bad guys so that they can enter into it in one way or another".

He said such a pact is necessary in light of the deteriorating security situation in his diocese, which has prompted him to warn priests not to try to challenge the cartels.

This is not the first time that the Mexican bishops have taken a stand in favor of opening discussions between the government and the cartels.

The bishops issued a similar proposal back in February 2018 after two priests were murdered.

"Wishful thinking"

"To consider an agreement with anyone is impossible,” argued Nathalie Augier de Moussac, a Paris-based history professor whose field of specialization is Catholicism in Mexico. 

“If you get along with the head of a cartel one day, it is very likely that he will no longer be there the next day, or that another cartel will have replaced him for control of the region,” she said. 

“The bishop of Zacatecas’ proposal is wishful thinking," the historian insisted.

In this sense, she emphasizes the splintering of the cartels for several years, which makes negotiations illusory.

She pointed out that Bishop Noriega’s approach is the opposite of that espoused by the Mexican Jesuits, who believe everyone should be welcomed whoever they are.

Detractors derisively refer to that as "abrazos no balazos" ("hugs, not bullets").

"The bishop of Zacatecas, on the other hand, advises priests to abandon villages at risk, which is not what the Jesuits do,” said Augier de Moussac. 

“They are willing to do anything to stay to help their flock, the first victims of organized crime," she explained.

"The Jesuits are very well integrated and respected by indigenous communities, including the drug traffickers. It is very likely that the double assassination (in June) was a blunder by the sicario (hitman)," the historian opined.

Photos of the murdered clerics

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Obrador has welcomed the reaction of the bishops’ conference and the proposal put forward by Bishop Noriega.

But he reaffirmed to the newspaper Milenio that he opposes opening negotiations with drug traffickers, saying this would mean legitimizing these armed groups.

The episcopal conference, the conference of men and women religious superiors, and the Mexican Jesuit Province have invited Catholics throughout the country to honor the priests and religious who been murdered by displaying their photos in churches during Mass next Sunday.

In fact, July 10 is being observed as a day of prayer for peace.

According to the Catholic Multimedia Center, at least seven Mexican priests have been killed since Obrador's presidency began in December 2018, and at least 20 during the previous presidency.